Baytown, TX — The Lee College Board of Regents and Goose Creek Consolidated Independent School District (GCCISD) Thursday approved implementation of a new program to cover the cost of Lee College fall tuition and fees for the 2019-2020 graduates of GCCISD.
Under the new Supporting College Readiness Program, GCCISD and Lee College will split equally the cost of tuition and fees for eligible students. Those eligible for free tuition include December 2019 or June 2020 graduates of GCCISD who register to take at least 12 credit hours at Lee College in the Fall 2020 semester.
To be eligible, students must:
- Be a GCCISD 2019-2020 graduate
- Enroll in and maintain at least 12 credits at Lee College for the Fall 2020 semester
- Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or the Texas Application for State Financial Aid (TASFA).
This is a last-dollar scholarship program covering the cost of tuition and fees for Fall 2020 at Lee College, meaning the scholarship kicks in after all other grant and scholarship funding has been applied.
“Lee College is proud to join forces with GCCISD to help students take that first step in reaching their goals of achieving a higher education,” said Lee College President, Dr. Lynda Villanueva. “We know many people are struggling with finances right now as a result of COVID-19 and they might think they can’t afford to go to college. Together with GCCISD, we are effectively removing those financial barriers so new GCCISD high school graduates can begin the journey towards an associate degree or certificate—with no out-of-pocket costs to them. The time to begin this journey is now. We want these students to know they belong in college, and they belong at Lee College.”
The program also will benefit Goose Creek CISD students who choose to take advantage of it by providing encouragement and motivation for academic achievement as well as College, Career and Military Readiness (CCMR), furthering the District’s goal of post-secondary readiness. In addition, it will support the goal of creating a local college going culture.
“This partnership between Lee College and Goose Creek CISD provides an amazing opportunity for our Goose Creek CISD graduates to experience a semester of college at no cost as some students are deferred by financial restraints and others by fear of the unknown,” said Goose Creek CISD superintendent Dr. Randal O’Brien. “We are so grateful for the support our friends at Lee College provide for our District, and we look forward to continuing to work together to help our students overcome the obstacles and achieve their goals.”
The Supporting College Readiness Program is a shared initiative by Lee College and GCCISD to help overcome barriers faced by first-generation college going students to allow greater achievement among these groups of individuals. This program is intended, in part, to specifically target the barrier of affordability faced by these groups, and its implementation will be reflective of this shared goal.
There are seven high schools within GCCISD including Peter E. Hyland Center, IMPACT Early College High School, Robert E. Lee High School, Goose Creek Memorial High School, POINT Alternative Center, Ross S. Sterling High School and Stuart Career Tech High School. GCCISD had approximately 1,600 graduates in June 2020.