During the 2020 legislative session, changes were made to the Maryland Community College Promise Scholarship program. The program was initiated two years ago to make a community college education more affordable. This year’s changes eliminated the service obligation and the age requirement in an effort to offer more students the opportunity to be eligible for up to $5,000 a year to attend a community college.
Eligible students include those who are high school graduates or GED recipients in Maryland; have a high school grade point average (GPA) of at least 2.3 on a 4.0 scale; enroll full time with at least 12 credits per term in a credit certificate or associate degree program, or enroll in a sequence of non-credit courses that leads to licensure or certification; and have an annual adjusted gross income of not more than $100,000 for those who are single or living in a single-parent household or $150,000 for those who are married or living in a two-parent household.
The scholarship is “last-dollar” funding, which means that students must apply for federal, state and other financial aid, and all other financial aid must be awarded before these scholarship funds are provided. Students are required to re-apply every year.
Applicants who listed a four-year institution on their Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or Maryland State Financial Aid Application, who now plan to attend a community college, can change their school of choice prior to the deadline of July 31.
Full regulations for the scholarship, as well as instructions on how to change the school of choice can be found at the Maryland Higher Education Commission website at https://mhec.state.md.us, by typing “promise” in the search box.
For more information or assistance, contact Amanda Messatzzia, director of student success at Wor-Wic Community College, at amessatzzia@worwic.edu or 410-334-2993.