Preparing young people for college and career success

Whether it’s college scholarships, success coaching or internships, Birmingham Promise has it all.

Founded in 2019, with its first participants joining in 2020, the program is an example of a comprehensive effort designed to help students succeed in education and the workforce after high school and is emerging as a model for how cities can create successful free college programs for local students.

The brainchild of Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin, the Birmingham Promise provides graduating students from seven Birmingham, Alabama public high schools (and one virtual school) with up to four years of tuition assistance to attend a public two- or four-year college or university in the state.

The program also provides coaching to help students succeed in college, beginning in their final year of high school and continuing throughout the student’s time at college until graduation, and facilitates access to mental health services, a student emergency fund, college and career fairs, and mentors in the local business community.

Since its inception, the program has provided more than $9 million in tuition assistance and other support to 1,290 Birmingham high school graduates, more than 90 percent of whom are black. The two most popular college destinations are the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Alabama A&M, an HBCU in Huntsville. Of the total number of students who go on to college, 1,107 enroll at a four-year institution, although some students start at a two-year institution.

Of the roughly 1,100 Birmingham City Schools graduating class this year, 682 applied for the Birmingham Promise Scholarship, and while of course not all of these students will ultimately enroll in college, the early application rate is still impressive.

Birmingham Promise also offers internships where high school seniors can earn $15 an hour, gain work experience, and build professional networks that will benefit them throughout their careers. To date, 280 Birmingham students have participated in the internship program, gaining paid work experience with local employers in industries such as financial services, healthcare, retail, hospitality and communications. Approximately 90 percent of interns also receive scholarships from the program to continue their education.

The program was initially funded through a public-private partnership: Alabama Power Company, Regions Bank, and Altec each contributed $1 million to get the program started, with the City of Birmingham contributing $10 million ($2 million per year for five years), and the state of Alabama contributing just under $900,000 per year for operations and staffing.

This spring, Birmingham Promise received a $10 million grant from the PNC Foundation, the largest private donation in the program’s history, which will be paid out over the next 10 years and used to sustain the scholarship program.

“Every day, with every decision I make, I strive to move this city out of poverty,” Mayor Woodfin said in an interview with local media in March. “The best way to do that is to make the investments we need in public education. The Birmingham Promise is a downstream plan, but it provides a detailed blueprint for an exit plan for high school graduates.”

The scholarship, awarded when the last dollar is paid, means that the program will pay any tuition and required fees remaining after a student receives federal Pell Grants, state aid, and financial aid from the college or university they attend.

This program does not have any grade requirements for students to be eligible for tuition assistance. The only requirement is to be accepted into a college program after completing the application process, which includes the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form.

Currently, the program boasts a 72% retention rate from first to second year, according to Samantha Williams, executive director of Birmingham Promise since 2022. The national second-year retention rate for all students enrolled in college in fall 2022 was 76.5%, and the retention rate for Black students across all home situations and institution types was 67.5%.

As of last fall, 50 percent of our first class are still enrolled or have graduated with a degree, and while our program is still waiting to calculate its six-year graduation rate, that should increase significantly as more students complete their degrees in their fifth and sixth years, as is customary for many college students.

Williams, a first-generation college student who earned a degree in history from Georgetown University, told me recently that she sees the program as having the potential to be a pioneer among similar efforts to increase college enrollment and success.

“We are moving in the right direction. I was thrilled to see 72 percent of our students get over the first-year cliff and are one step closer to graduating, but I am confident that the strength of our success coaching model will enable us to increase that number to 80 percent over the next few years, surpassing the national average,” Williams said.

“We’ve spent the last five years launching this program, supporting our scholars and putting the foundations of the program in place. Now is the time to close the gaps at every level – between Birmingham’s high schools, between Birmingham students and the national average, and between students’ current experiences after high school and what we know is possible,” she added.