5/26/2021
Assembly OKs bill making RI Promise permanent
PROVIDENCE – With final votes in the Senate, May 26, the General Assembly approved legislation (2021-H 5224A, 2021-H 0097A) sponsored by House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi and Senate President Dominick J. Ruggerio to permanently enact the Rhode Island Promise program, which provides up to two years of free tuition for eligible Rhode Islanders at Community College of Rhode Island.
The program is currently set to expire with the class entering CCRI in September 2021. The bill, which now goes to the governor’s desk, removes the sunset provision altogether, making the program permanent.
The program was proposed by former Gov. Gina Raimondo in 2017, and is open only to students graduating high school who begin CCRI the following fall. To keep the scholarship, they must be full-time students who qualify for in-state tuition, maintain at least a 2.5 GPA, and remain on track to graduate on time, although the bill amends the progr