Renton Promise is a program within Renton Technical College (RTC) that can waive tuition for recent Renton high school graduates. The only requirement is submitting a FAFSA or WASFA, which is a different aid process than most other colleges. The program started last summer and has just completed its first year.

Last summer, the program received funding and budgeting two months before the start of the academic year in September, a quick turnaround for which the program estimated the usual 50-60 students enrolling in RTC to utilize. Even with the limited time, the Renton Promise doubled the incoming RTC class of Renton graduates to 123 students.

There are two requirements for students to be eligible for the program: they must be a graduate of any Renton high school in the past year and they must complete the FAFSA (Free Application for Student Financial Aid) or WASFA. The WASFA is a Washington-specific application for those ineligible to complete the FAFSA, whether due to immigration status, defaulted federal loans, or other issues with federal aid. Completing one of these applications is required to receive grants or federal loans as a university student, but many families, assuming they do not qualify, never apply.

Renton Tech currently provides one-on-one guidance for filling out the FAFSA or WASFA in 14 languages.

Students can start classes in the summer, fall, winter, or spring terms after graduating. The only requirement is that a student is taking at least one class within a year of their high school graduation.

The two requirements are the only two — students are eligible for the Renton Promise regardless of income, high school GPA (grade-point average), ability, or country of birth.

Jessica Gilmore-English is the vice president for student services at RTC and works closely with staff administering the Renton Promise.

“Students who last year had thought they weren’t going to go onto university once they saw what their financial aid was going to be and that it wasn’t going to cover their full expense, Renton Promise was an opportunity for them to get started and know that was going to be supported,” Gilmore-English said. “I think that’s the long-term promise going forward, just the power of knowing that ‘I have support to go to school.’”

More than the money

Lidiya Gebre, Lindbergh alumna and now Renton Promise Specialist at RTC, works with students as an advisor for financial aid, career planning, and everything in between.

“For some students this is more of a stepping stone for them,” Gebre said. “It’s a starting point where they can build their confidence and ensure that they know what they want to achieve.”

Many students take core classes at RTC to then transfer to other universities. Others are using the program to obtain certificates or training in a certain field, and others are working toward earning their associate’s degree.

One student who attended classes at RTC this past summer quarter through the Renton Promise will begin studying at Bellevue College this fall because she got into the radiology tech program, Gebre said.

Gebre guides students through the FAFSA or WASFA application, figuring out what students want for their futures, and what best supports them through that.

This one-on-one support in all different areas, especially in finance and affordability, is uncommon for any college.

Another aspect of attending RTC, especially right out of high school, is the smaller class sizes, Gilmore-English said: “Students are able to be in a program where they’re in a cohort with other classmates who they get to know, they get to know their faculty. I think there’s a personalized aspect of the experience that students have at this college that is a benefit.”

Accessible transitions

Steve Bergquist has been a teacher at Lindbergh High School since 2005 and teaches 12th grade history and political science. As of 2013, Bergquist has been an 11th District Washington State Representative. He initiated the Renton Promise program and hopes to implement similar kinds of programs in the entire state.

“My whole goal is, how do I make that transition from high school to college or high school to career attainable for every student?” Bergquist said. “This one year of results, I think, is pretty amazing testimonial that there’s a great opportunity here to do more.”

Two Renton Promise students have gone into welding.

“Both of them had no plans after high school and are now probably looking at six-figure jobs once they’re done,” Bergquist said. Of the 123 Renton Promise students, 78 others are going into Pre-Nursing, IT, Business, Automotive, or Computer Science, according to recent data from the Renton Promise program. These careers reflect RTC’s trades- and technical- focused classes, which are in high-demand, Bergquist said.

Requiring students to submit a FAFSA or WASFA is a part of making the high school to beyond transition more accessible.

“We guarantee you, no matter how much you make, you’re in and you’re fully paid for,” Bergquist said. “But we do want you to fill out the FAFSA or WASFA, because then you could qualify for additional funding like federal or state. And so instead of saying, fill this out to see if you get funding, we flipped it and said, you get funding no matter what, but you have to fill this out. And that to me just changes everybody’s perspective.”

The hope is that this change creates awareness around applying for financial aid and every student knowing all of their options, whether that be full federal funding for any in-state school, partial funding, a certain type of degree, or more, Bergquist said. This starts with high school counselors having that information and understanding to show students their options.

For instance, students who qualify for free and reduced lunch — of which 45.6% of Renton School District high schoolers were in 2023, according to annual demographic reports — qualify for free college tuition, Bergquist said.

“Getting them to fill out the FAFSA opens up all these doors for our students,” Bergquist said.

Funding for the program

In its first year, which was approved in May 2023 for a fall 2023 start, 59 of the 123 students were fully funded by the Washington College Grant, a state fund based on a student’s family income, and 64 students had at least partial or full Renton Promise funding. This came from the $200,000 budget, which came from a state budget proviso requested by Bergquist.

Going forward and moving out of its two pilot years, however, Bergquist is looking to fund the program from the City of Renton and the Washington GET program.

“It seems like we’ve got a lot of interest, so the city is hopefully going to have an opportunity to put this into their budget going forward,” Bergquist said.

The GET program provides a way for families to invest in their students’ future higher education expenses with a guarantee that the State of Washington will keep pace with the cost of college tuition, no matter how it changes in the future. In the meantime, the state invests those dollars into scholarships and other funds like the Renton Promise.

For the coming year, over 200 students have applied to the program, and as of now, Renton Promise has not met any acceptance threshold, Bergquist said.

Learn more

Find more about the Renton Promise program by visiting Renton Technical College’s website at rtc.edu, emailing RentonPromise@rtc.edu or calling 425-235-2262.