Rodriguez: Level of enthusiasm for STC’s Valley Promise program has been incredible

MCALLEN, Texas – South Texas College leaders say they are blown away by level of interest shown by students in the Valley Promise.

The Valley Promise, or Promesa del Valle, is available to graduating high school seniors who are entering as freshmen at South Texas College. Under the program, their first two years of tuition and fees are covered percent. In other words, they have no debt.

“When they graduate with an associate’s degree, no debt whatsoever,” said Rodney H. Rodriguez, vice president for institutional advancement and external affairs at STC.

“And they can transfer to any university in the state of Texas and/or continue their bachelor’s degree at South Texas College, since we offer five bachelor’s degrees.”

Rodriguez said the program is going well.

“We’re really excited about the Valley Promise. It is going well. We were expecting 250 students. We ended up with 1,166 students, which is amazing, from our 54 school districts,” Rodriguez said.

Asked how STC was able to budget for the program when demand was much greater than expected, Rodriguez said: “We were able to work with our philanthropic partners and also submit grants to cover the excess amounts that we needed for a successful program.”

Rodriguez said an announcement will be made soon about STC working with a partner to make the Valley Promise program even better.

“We will be announcing that we will be covering for these individuals a transferable scholarship to university at no cost. So, they get four years paid tuition and fees. So, two years STC, two years at the university.”

Rodriguez said STC is also getting ready to start the Adult Promise Program, which will serve individuals that are 22 years and over that want to upskill, reskill, or earn a certification at no cost. He said this program will start in the 2025/2026 school year.

“So, that’s amazing. So, we’re really excited,” he said of the Adult Promise Program.

STC is budgeting for 250 participants in the Adult Promise Program. “But if we know anything, given the way the Valley Promise has gone, we can expect bigger numbers.”

The other new related program is the Promise to Promise Program.

“We have not announced this yet but we’re working with educational entities that will be able to partner with us in that realm,” Rodriguez said.

“So, we have three huge initiatives that we’re going to unveil at the STC Foundation Gala, which is on October 16, and we invite everyone to participate.”

Asked how the STC Foundation is going, Rodriguez said:

“It has been doing amazing. We’ve been in existence for two years now, and in these two years, we’ve been able to provide $10,000 to our food pantry for our students and families. We’ve been able to support our students who travel to Austin to visit the University (of Texas) and just to explore what higher education is, and then to send our students to tournaments and competitions that, without the foundation, would have never been possible.

“So, we’re just really elated and excited. Our board is phenomenal. We have the greatest board there is. We have Bonnie Gonzalez, Jim Collins, Gary Gurwitz, Alonzo Cantu, Sam Vale, Laura Warren and Adelita Felix, which are powerhouses in the region and have really brought a lot of great success to our foundation.”

In addition, Rodriguez said, the STC Foundation has the full support of the STC Board of Trustees and its president, Ricardo Solis. “They have always supported us to make sure that we get the job done,” he said.

The post Rodriguez: Level of enthusiasm for STC’s Valley Promise program has been incredible appeared first on Rio Grande Guardian.