A new goal announced by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti to double the amount of students in the L.A. College Promise Program from about 5,000 to 10,000 by 2022 has won praise by the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD).
Mayor Garcetti, at his recent State of the City address, announced that the plan to increase enrollment will be supplemented with free laptops and free bus transportation for L.A. College Promise students.
In response, Mike Fong, President of the LACCD Board of Trustees, offered his thanks to the Mayor for his continued support of the District. “Thank you so much to Mayor Eric Garcetti for his amazing leadership and vision in embracing the hopes and aspirations of our students. This is extraordinary. Free tuition, free laptops and free transportation is the trifecta for making Los Angeles a City of college graduates.”
In 2017, Mayor Garcetti announced the start of the L.A. College Promise program that guaranteed the first year of free tuition for all high school seniors graduating from the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) who then enrolled full time at one of LACCD’s nine colleges.
The local program helped generate statewide support for legislation providing free, first-year tuition at all of California’s community colleges under AB19 and now the possible expansion, also statewide, for the second year to be free under AB2. Announcement of AB2 occurred last year by Garcetti, along with the bill’s primary author, Assemblymember Miguel Santiago, https://a53.asmdc.org/, and LACCD officials at a media-packed event hosted by the District’s Los Angeles Trade-Technical College.
LACCD Chancellor Francisco C. Rodriguez, Ph.D., also praised Mayor Garcetti’s announcement and his on-going commitment to higher education in Los Angeles.
“We welcome all and will educate all without hesitation or apology. Free tuition makes the dream of a college education alive and well in Los Angeles thanks to Mayor Garcetti and our partners. The L.A. College Promise program is a game-changer that will keep students on the path to graduate with a two-year degree, transfer to a four-year college or earn a workforce certificate,” Chancellor Rodriguez said.
