A scholarship program in Pittsburgh that aims to boost student enrollment, increase college readiness, and prepare an able workforce is showing positive results, a preliminary report by the RAND Corp. says.
Launched in January 2007, the Pittsburgh Promise program provides postsecondary scholarships to students in the Pittsburgh public schools who meet minimum grade-point-average requirements.
The city’s mayor and schools superintendent created the program in the hope of reversing years of population declines in the city, and the study indicates that school enrollments have since stabilized. The authors also note an increase in the number of Pittsburgh students heading to college.