About AlamoPROMISE

Working with local government and community partners Alamo PROMISE provides community college tuition along with mandatory fees to eligible students who plan to earn an associate degree, certification, courses for transfer or workforce training.

Alamo PROMISE is more than a new program of the Alamo Colleges District, it is a community-wide initiative. 

AlamoPROMISE will provide last-dollar funding to fill the gap between a student’s financial aid award and the cost of tuition and mandatory fees for up to three years at one of the Alamo Colleges District’s five colleges.

Graduating Bexar County high school seniors from any of 25 local high schools (listed in the table below) are eligible.

To be eligible, students must:

• Complete a Save Your Seat Form to participate in the program
• Submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid or Texas Application for State Financial Aid and list at least one college of the Alamo Colleges District
• Complete any documents required to process a financial aid award
• Apply for admission to one of the Alamo Colleges through Apply Texas
• Complete registration at one of the Alamo Colleges to attend the Fall semester immediately following their senior year of high school
• Complete a Summer Bridge Program (if  high school GPA is 79 or below)
• Complete a Career Exploration Camp 
• Maintain a 2.0 GPA and complete at least 18 credit hours per academic year (9 credit hours per semester)

Participating Schools

*Denote Pilot Program

AlamoPROMISE is available to eligible students residing in Bexar County. Graduating seniors from one of the 25 participating high schools can complete Save Your Seat Forms beginning on October 15, 2020. 

The Alamo Colleges District’s partners in AlamoPROMISE are contributing funds and additional monies are being contributed by businesses and foundations.

The generous support of our community makes this program possible. We want to encourage your continued investment in Bexar County area students.

Give to AlamoPROMISE Today

The core partners are the UP Partnership, the San Antonio Education Partnership and SA Works.

Yes. The AlamoPROMISE steering committee, chaired by Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff, Mayor Ron Nirenberg and Alamo Colleges District Chancellor Dr. Mike Flores, includes leaders from key businesses, educational organizations and non-profits who are fully supportive of the program.

There is consensus in the community that education beyond high school is critical to providing economic and social mobility for residents, and that financial barriers are the greatest factor in preventing residents from enrolling in or completing a college education.

The leadership of the Alamo Colleges District believes that Alamo PROMISE provides a strategy to address that reality and the fact that San Antonio is one of the fastest-growing economic regions in the country, yet has the second-highest percentage of population in poverty among the top 25 largest U.S. metro areas.

Yes. The Dallas County Community College District has a successful Promise program, and there are 242 such programs making a difference across the country.

AlamoPROMISE is open to graduating seniors from participating AlamoPROMISE high schools. Current participating AlamoPROMISE high schools can be found here. Graduating seniors need to enroll at one of the Alamo Colleges in the Fall semester immediately following their high school graduation

Students interested in becoming an AlamoPROMISE Scholar must meet application deadlines to be considered for the program. For students who would like to be part of AlamoPROMISE Cohort 2 enrolling in Fall 2021, the following steps need to be met:

• Save Your Seat submitted by March 26, 2021, you can Save your Seat online here.
• Admissions Application submitted by March 26, 2021, you can apply for admissions here.
• Financial Aid Application submitted by March 26, 2021, you can complete the FAFSA here or TASFA here.

Alamo Colleges FAFSA School Codes:

NLC 042636  

NVC 033723  

PAC 016615  

SAC 009163  

SPC 003608

Note: Graduating seniors who are Dual Credit students from participating high schools can be AlamoPROMISE Scholars.  Participants in approved pilot program partnerships, such as NXT LVL Youth Opportunity Center, can be AlamoPROMISE Scholars. 

AlamoPROMISE is not available to: students not from a participating high school or pilot program, transfer students, students who enrolled at another institution of higher education prior to the Fall semester, or students who did not enroll during the Fall semester immediately following their high school graduation.

The AlamoPROMISE Program Office is available to address any questions about AlamoPROMISE participation at promise@alamo.edu.  Students who do not meet AlamoPROMISE participation criteria can receive assistance with transition to college through the Alamo Colleges District’s College Connection Team here.  

No, income level or graduating Grade Point Average (GPA)/class rank are not part of the eligibility requirements for AlamoPROMISE. Seniors from participating high schools can become AlamoPROMISE Scholars.

AlamoPROMISE covers the cost of tuition and required fees at any of the five colleges of the Alamo Colleges District for up to three years (six consecutive Fall and Spring semesters) or the completion of an associate degree, whichever comes first. AlamoPROMISE scholars must enroll in the Fall semester immediately following their high school graduation.

After the financial aid award has been applied, AlamoPROMISE last-dollar funding covers the remaining costs of tuition and required fees. This includes special tuition and the following required fees: Student Activity Fee, Campus Access Fee, and the International Education Fee.

AlamoPROMISE will only cover courses that are part of a student’s Course Program of Study (CPOS). CPOS is federal requirement stating that only courses that count toward a degree or certificate can be considered when calculating student’s federal financial aid eligibility. Due to this requirement, if a student takes courses that are not on their official degree plan, it could result in receiving less federal financial aid and having to pay for courses out-of-pocket. Visit here for more CPOS information.

AlamoPROMISE does not pay for other college-going expenses, including but not limited to: instructional materials costs not covered by financial aid, textbooks, technology equipment, transportation, and housing.

Note: Instructional Materials (IM) fees for Cohort 1 AlamoPROMISE Scholars are covered during the Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 semesters. Instructional material fees will not be covered beginning Summer 2021. We strongly encourage students to pursue internal and external scholarships to assist with covering these fees, if incurred. For planning purposes, the average Instructional Material fee cost is approximately $95 per student each semester and varies by course.  

AlamoPROMISE is a last-dollar funding program that considers first federal and state financial aid awards that a student is eligible for, such as a federal Pell Grant.  The amount of “last-dollar” AlamoPROMISE funding each student receives will vary based on individual financial aid awards for which the student is eligible. 

AlamoPROMISE Scholars must meet key criteria that support a successful journey toward college completion. AlamoPROMISE Scholars not meeting the requirements needed to maintain AlamoPROMISE Scholar status may be subject to having their AlamoPROMISE revoked for the subsequent semester. Any notices regarding a change in AlamoPROMISE Scholar status will be communicated by the AlamoPROMISE Program Office to the official student ACES email account.

• AlamoPROMISE Scholars are highly encouraged to complete at least 18 credit hours during the Fall and Spring semesters (9 hours per semester).

• AlamoPROMISE Scholars must maintain continuous enrollment for up to six consecutive Fall and Spring semesters (does not include Summer). AlamoPROMISE students may take classes during the Summer; however, other sources of funding such as Summer Momentum Program, Scholarships or other aid will need to be used as AlamoPROMISE last-dollar funding does not apply for summer terms. For more information related to scholarships please click here.
• AlamoPROMISE Scholars must remain in Satisfactory Academic Progress(SAP).
  • Note: The Alamo Colleges District checks SAP every year after Spring grades are posted. This includes maintaining a 2.0 cumulative grade point average.

• AlamoPROMISE Scholars must maintain Financial Aid eligibility.
  • Cohort 1 Scholars should submit the continuation FAFSA or TASFA for 2021-2022 by March 26^th, 2021.  It is important to regularly check the ACES portal for updates on financial aid status and submit any additional requested documents that may be required to complete financial aid files. The ACES portal can be accessed here. For help with any Financial Aid documents, please email promise_finaid@alamo.eduor call 210-212-5266.  

• AlamoPROMISE Scholars must pursue Courses in their Program of Study (CPOS) in order to follow federal requirements. Scholars should always reference their official degree plan and course catalog to determine what courses count toward their degree. For specific questions about what counts toward their degree, Scholars may contact their academic advisor.
  
  
• Complete any other program requirements communicated by the AlamoPROMISE Program Office via the official student ACES email account. 
  • Note: For Cohort 1 AlamoPROMISE Scholars, participation in Career Exploration Camp and Summer Bridge was extended through the Fall 2021 semester. We recognize there are many competing obligations in the pandemic environment; therefore, if Career Exploration Camp or Summer Bridge was not completed, this will not affect continuation as an AlamoPROMISE Scholar.

Please note that if there are concerns about meeting any requirements, students should work with their Certified Academic Advisor for exception consideration and a plan for continued success. The AlamoPROMISE Program Office is also available to assist with any questions at promise@alamo.edu.

Yes, AlamoPROMISE students need to complete financial aid verification and/or any other required financial documents that are requested after a FAFSA of TASFA is submitted. Please note that the FAFSA/TASFA and any requested documents must be completed every year to maintain AlamoPROMISE Scholar Status.

Any requested documents are part of the Financial Aid completion process and are needed to determine a student’s Financial Aid eligibility and last-dollar funding. Financial Aid awards and AlamoPROMISE last-dollar funding cannot be issued until Financial Aid documents are complete.

Verification is a review process in which the Student Financial Aid Office determines the accuracy of various data elements reported by the student and/or their parent(s) on their FAFSA submission. The U.S. Department of Education selects approximately 30% of all aid applicants for verification. The verification process ensures that students receive all the financial aid they are entitled to receive. Selected students are required to complete the verification process before Financial Aid eligibility can be determined.  

Any outstanding financial aid documents will be requested through the student portal, ACES. 

Steps to complete Verification:

• Log into ACES
• Check the 'Financial Aid Checklist' section of ‘My Page’ for unsatisfied financial aid requirements
• Complete all PDF(s)/DocuSign/other documents requested and Submit them according to the instructions provided:         

• • You may also be asked to follow a URL link to the ProVerifier+ student portal and sign in with your alamo.edu email address.
  • If directed to the ProVerifier+ student portal, make sure to check and complete all document requests in both the ProVerifier+ ANDyour ACES student portals. The Alamo Colleges District is using the ProVerifier+ system to assist you with the verification process. The automated ProVerifier+ system communicates directly with the IRS on behalf of you and/or your parent(s) to obtain official IRS tax transcripts, saving a tremendous amount of time and effort as well as ensuring the correct documents for the correct year are requested. You and/or your parent(s) will only be required to electronically complete and eSign an IRS Form 4506-T/C Form and a Verification worksheet – ProVerifier+ will do the rest!

For help with any Financial Aid documents, please email promise_finaid@alamo.edu or call 210-212-5266.  Financial Aid Sessions are also available for live help here.   

If you have any concerns about Financial Aid and AlamoPROMISE Scholar Status, the AlamoPROMISE Program Office is also available to address questions at promise@alamo.edu.  

AlamoPROMISE Scholars who have outstanding balances related to tuition and required fees will not be dropped from classes.  

Note: Because Instructional Materials (IM) fees for Cohort 1 AlamoPROMISE Scholars are covered during the Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 semesters, students will not be dropped due to IM balances.

Students with outstanding balances related to fees not covered by AlamoPROMISE should contact the Student Business Office for payment plan options. The AlamoPROMISE Program Office is also available to assist at promise@alamo.edu.

Students attending one of the five colleges at the Alamo Colleges District have access to different types of resources to assist you with your success. Some resources include: Laptop and Wi-Fi Hotspot check-out, student emergency aid, student food support from the San Antonio Food Bank, Housing and Rental Assistance programs, mental health counseling and other referrals for public assistance. Learn more about student resources here.