Birmingham Promise Program (Auburn, Jacksonville, Jackson: public schools, universities, costs)

[mcalumni01]

Incredible....tuition free. Starting 2020
https://twitter.com/randallwoodfin/s...608967681?s=20

[steveklein]

Originally Posted by mcalumni01

Incredible....tuition free. Starting 2020
https://twitter.com/randallwoodfin/s...608967681?s=20

Huh? Where is the funding coming for this?

I don't know how many students the school system graduates, but if I conservatively estimate 1500 per year, and conservatively estimate tuition at public schools at $5k/year, that's 30 million per year that needs to be accounted for. Now I understand that not every student that graduates is going to take advantage of this... obviously... but it is still a lot of cash to come up with for a school system that I find hard to believe is swimming in money.


Edit: After reading Woodfin's letter/plan which can be seen here: https://www.birminghamal.gov/promise , the program will be seeded with 2 million dollars. That won't come close to sending everyone to universities for free or anything, but it could be the start of something. We shall see.

[MinivanDriver]

I wonder what projections went into this? I can see the logic behind it, essentially a way to both stop the hemorrhaging of students from the Birmingham school systems and also to create a skills development program to boost economic development.

[mcalumni01]

It's a public-private partnership with local business who are also involved. This was a coming together involvement between the mayor and city with help from the business community about coming together for better of BCS students. Plus the city operating budget has increased every year since 2010. The city can invested whatever dollar amount for here on out.


These business invest their resources now for BCS students to attend college to grow and learn with the hope of returning and becoming part of the birmingham business community.

[mcalumni01]

Any questions....here is your answer..

https://www.al.com/news/2019/08/what...e-promise.html

[cherokee48]

Awesome idea! It is very ambitious and has the potential to attract people to the city that want to give their children an opportunity to attain higher education that might otherwise not have as much of an opportunity. This could serve to boost the city's population long term if it is successful and get more students to college. I like that the city is being aggressive and creative about increasing growth.

[RocketDawg]

Originally Posted by steveklein

Huh? Where is the funding coming for this?

I don't know how many students the school system graduates, but if I conservatively estimate 1500 per year, and conservatively estimate tuition at public schools at $5k/year, that's 30 million per year that needs to be accounted for. Now I understand that not every student that graduates is going to take advantage of this... obviously... but it is still a lot of cash to come up with for a school system that I find hard to believe is swimming in money.


Edit: After reading Woodfin's letter/plan which can be seen here: https://www.birminghamal.gov/promise , the program will be seeded with 2 million dollars. That won't come close to sending everyone to universities for free or anything, but it could be the start of something. We shall see.

Tuition even at the lowest level public school is much more than that. And throw in Alabama, Auburn, UAB, and UAH and you're talking real money. Of course, there are a lot more expenses of attending college than just tuition. Just a little searching shows $7500 at Jacksonville state to near $11,000 at Auburn for tuition and fees. And it costs at least twice that to actually attend school (room and board, etc.).

Is Woodfin running for reelection (is this a political move)?

[RocketDawg]

Originally Posted by cherokee48

Awesome idea! It is very ambitious and has the potential to attract people to the city that want to give their children an opportunity to attain higher education that might otherwise not have as much of an opportunity. This could serve to boost the city's population long term if it is successful and get more students to college. I like that the city is being aggressive and creative about increasing growth.

Even if the funding can be raised, it would be a long-term thing. "The Birmingham Promise is set up so it benefits students who have attended Birmingham City Schools for at least 12 years." So you can't just move there for a year or two and expect free college tuition.

[steveklein]

Originally Posted by RocketDawg

Tuition even at the lowest level public school is much more than that. And throw in Alabama, Auburn, UAB, and UAH and you're talking real money. Of course, there are a lot more expenses of attending college than just tuition. Just a little searching shows $7500 at Jacksonville state to near $11,000 at Auburn for tuition and fees. And it costs at least twice that to actually attend school (room and board, etc.).

Is Woodfin running for reelection (is this a political move)?

Okay, 50 million. To may to, to mah to.

Point being, I was skeptical was obvious reasons.

The tweet and some of the headlines were basically clickbait. Everyone who read it immediately thought "WOW... free college for everyone!"

This isn't that. Not even close to it.

At the very least, the clickbait tweet was definitely a political move. Doesn't mean that it won't still be a good overall thing for the city.

But this promise is a far cry from the clickbait. But it also seems more... reasonable and sustainable... than the idea that the city is just gonna start paying college tuition for all its graduates.

[mcalumni01]

Originally Posted by RocketDawg

Tuition even at the lowest level public school is much more than that. And throw in Alabama, Auburn, UAB, and UAH and you're talking real money. Of course, there are a lot more expenses of attending college than just tuition. Just a little searching shows $7500 at Jacksonville state to near $11,000 at Auburn for tuition and fees. And it costs at least twice that to actually attend school (room and board, etc.).

Is Woodfin running for reelection (is this a political move)?

Ain't no election. He was just elected in october 2017. No politicial stunt or whatever you people think this might be. Why is it that the mayor of birmingham can't do things to help the kids for the city. It's just freaking amazing how this is getting people feelings all in a twine. We ask for solutions to problems and he is trying to do something about it and people think he is doing it for some personal reason.

Cherokee48, some people, huh