Earlier this year, the state Legislature appropriated $7.5 million for the new Arizona Promise scholarship program by the Board of Regents. The program will support students whose federal Pell grants or other financial aid don’t cover the cost of college tuition and fees. 

Now that the program has secured this funding, the board’s Executive Director John Arnold said he’s hopeful that students can start receiving the scholarship by the spring semester. To qualify, students must be an Arizona resident, eligible for a federal Pell grant, have at least a 2.5 GPA and be enrolled at one of the state’s three public universities.

“We want students to understand if they qualify to go to the university even if they are low-income students, there is a pathway for them to come to the university, that their tuition will be covered," Arnold said. 

The board is hopeful that this program will help the help increase the state's college enrollment and completion rate, as well as the number of students who submit a Free Application for Federal Student Aid form, Arnold said. Half of all new jobs created over the next 10 years will require a bachelor's degrees, but on its current trajectory, only 18.5% of Arizona ninth graders will have a bachelor’ s degree by 2029, according to the board. 

He's not sure how many students the board can help with the state funding it has right now, but said ABOR is planning on putting in its own money to further support the program. 

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