In efforts to help students succeed in college, the South Bay Promise program at El Camino College offers to pay for the first year for full-time students that are coming to college directly from high school.

This program began in 2014 as a pilot program that was a partnership between Centinela Valley Unified School District and Inglewood Unified School District. The South Bay Promise program expanded to Torrance Unified School District in 2017.

“(This program) was first introduced to provide students with access to college with the promise that we would support them and their success in terms of attending college, completing college and moving on to a four-year university,” The Director of Outreach and Relations, Julieta O. Arámburo, said,

Recently, the South Bay Promise program has expanded to 500 students that either graduated or live in the El Camino College District.

In addition, Arámburo said that the South Bay Promise program, “is considering ways to expand benefits of (the program)”.

In order to enroll in the South Bay Promise Program, students must apply for admission to EC, apply for a FAFSA or California Dream Act, attend the ECC orientation, complete the ECC English and Math assessments, meet with a counselor to create and Ed-plan, complete the South Bay Promise application and register for a minimum of 12 units.

“What sets our program apart from other programs in the state, is that our program goes above and beyond to provide additional support,” Arámburo said.

Students that are in the program are connected with special programs including EOPS, FYE and student athletes to receive additional information and support.

The South Bay Promise program receives funding from the EC Foundation who receive donations from individuals and other companies.

The Foundation’s Executive Director, Andrea Sala, said that Honda had recently donated a $50,000 endowment to the Foundation.

This program is also receiving attention from state senators and other government officials.

The Public Information and Government Relations Director, Marc Stevens, said that the South Bay Promise program is, “implemented statewide” and that “there is a lot of interest from our national elected officials”.

In addition, Stevens also said that it was important to maintain those relationships with these elected officials and to make sure they’re informed on what’s going on.

The South Bay Promise program will have applications available for Fall 2019 beginning Nov. 1.

“I think this program is going to be around for a long time and I’m really excited about it”, Sala said.