Hundreds of college students in Prince George’s County, Maryland, are now eligible for free tuition at Prince George’s Community College.
The only catch is you have to live within six miles of MGM National Harbor.
The county set aside $2 million this week for the program, which comes from the impact fees paid out to the county by MGM.
“We were essentially painting the inside of schools, fixing bathrooms, fixing windows, things that the capital budget for the school system should already pay for,” said District 8 Council member Ed Burroughs, whose district includes MGM. “So, we removed all of those things and told the school system, ‘you need to pay for this just like you would any other place and take it out of the capital improvement budget.’ That freed up millions of dollars.”
Right now, more than 700 students at PGCC live within six miles of MGM, so all they need to do is apply for the scholarship program, which begins in the spring semester. There’s enough money for well over a thousand students, regardless of their age and what classes they take.
“At this college, you might not want to get a formal degree, but you can get your CDL and become a well-paid truck driver,” Burroughs said. “Right now, you can learn how to become an electrician here, you can learn how to become a plumber here, you can learn how to become a chef here through their culinary program. We have over 108 senior citizens who are taking continuing education courses here who live in my district.”
Currently, most of the students from that area enrolled at the school are considered part-time students. Dr. Falecia Williams, the school president, hopes this will help them take more classes.
“If our students are closer towards full-time enrollment, there’s a greater likelihood that they can complete,” Williams said. “We hope these dollars will at least encourage students to be able to take one additional class, because it’s only going to improve their persistence and their eventual completion of their academic credential.”
Burroughs said he believed the program will benefit not just students, but the community as a whole.
“There are so many things that we spend in the county government that I don’t see a return on investment for the actual resident,” said Burroughs. “In this case, walking away with a certification, walking away with a credential, walking away with an associate’s degree and being able to go into a four-year university with two years already paid for, for free, the ROI on the resident is so high when it comes to this program.”
Alexander Morgan, who lives in Clinton, is a computer science major and has one more semester to go at PGCC. He’s already applied.
“My initial reaction was more so like ‘Oh, is there really any catch to this?’” Morgan said. “It really does make things easier for myself, as I will be taking a good amount of credits for the next, upcoming semester.”
He plans to enroll at the University of Maryland next fall.
It’s also a big deal for Victoioe Badonou, a full-time student at PGCC who is also a parent.
“The great thing is they didn’t make it really complicated,” she said. “This is less stress financially and I know that I can make it.”
