MIDDLEBURY, Vt. (ABC22/FOX44) – Vermont high schoolers will continue to be able to get associates’ degrees tuition-free, a year after graduating from high school.
The Free Degree Promise program lets students take a full year of college courses while still in high school, and then complete their associate’s degree, with all tuition covered.
Donovan Arnold finished his degree in accounting through the program this year, after his 2024 graduation from Richford Jr./Sr. High School. “The thing I’m most excited about is being able to get into what I want to do at a young age,” said Arnold. “That feels like a really big win for me.”
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The Free Degree Promise now applies to current 10th and 11th graders – in the Vermont high school classes of 2027 and 2028. The J. Warren and Lois McClure Foundation jointly announced the extension with the Community College of Vermont.
At least 70 students graduated through the program this past June, with more than half the degrees earned in STEM fields, business, or health care and behavioral science.
The state has had an Early College Program since 2014, though participants’ final year working towards their associates’ degree has only been covered since the Free Degree Promise began with the class of 2023.
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