New initiative to cover college cost for low income students

Local college-bound kids may soon get the gift of free tuition, under a new program called the Madison Promise.

The program targets low-income students, and aims to pay for any additional cost not covered by federal Pell grants or other aid.

The program is only available to people in Dane and the 11 other counties that support Madison College.

“By doing this we can now potentially reach individuals that normally wouldn’t be coming to our door,” Senior Vice President of Madison College Keith Cornille said. “The program is really designed to try to help individuals coming out of high school, who may have a barrier with regard to their financials being met to pay for tuition and fees.”

The program will start in 2017. School officials said $175,000 are going to the first year of the program. In order to get the money, students must show an excellent high school academic record, and keep those grades up once they’re at Madison College.

While current Madison College students like Rodney Poe have missed the eligibility period he said a program like the Madison Promise will benefit younger students following in his path.

“That will be so helpful for younger students, and will be a big deal to a lot of people coming out of high school,” Poe said.