Birmingham Promise gives more than $10M to help students attend college over five years
The city of Birmingham hosted an event to celebrate its fifth anniversary of the Birmingham Promise.
The program was created in 2019 and began by offering paid internships to Birmingham City School students.
To date, more than 1,600 Birmingham City School student graduates have attended college while receiving more than $10 million in scholarships from the program.
Students say without the program college would cost a lot more.
"I thought I would never get into college, especially debt-free. That was the last of my worry. That was the last thing I thought of, so therefore, with the Birmingham Promise paying it all off for me, it helped me completely. I feel like they have done everything they could for me. Therefore, I have to pay them back some type of way," Ramsay High School graduate Sarah Granderson said.
Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin said he's inspired by seeing students achieve.
"This is why we get up every day. If we do the necessary things for our next and younger generations, then everything else works itself out in the city of Birmingham," Woodfin said.
Students say they're thankful to be involved with the program. The city of Birmingham hopes to celebrate more milestones in the future.