Currently, Fullerton College, in partnership with local high school districts, is offering freshmen their first year of college tuition-free, as a part of the North Orange County Promise Program.

With the success and expansion of the Promise Program in its first two years, the North Orange County Community College District wanted to extend the benefits for its Promise students. Students currently enrolled will get an extension of a year.

The Promise Program was started as a way to help make college affordable for the students that may be in a financial burden. Currently, the program has 2,300 students enrolled at Fullerton College and is looking to add more.

Fullerton College isn’t the only campus offering Promise benefits to students, as Cypress College is also a participating college in the North Orange County Promise Agreement.

Although the Promise Program is meant for new college students, it is not available for everyone. To qualify you must be entering your first year of college with no previous attempts to add units must be a high school graduate and you must meet California’s residency requirements. If you meet those requirements you must complete your FAFSA registration and enroll in at least 12 units.

If you are a part of the Anaheim Union, Brea Olinda, Fullerton Joint Union, or Placentia Yorba Linda Union High School Districts, you are able to be a Promise Student as long as you meet the requirements. Coming from these high school districts you will receive direction on how to apply to the Promise program at either Fullerton or Cypress College.

If you are from a different high school district than the ones listed, you will still have the opportunity to be a part of the promise program. Start by applying to Fullerton College. After the application is complete, do the Fullerton College online orientation, and then finish the rest of the requirements needed to be eligible for Promise benefits.

For students from different school districts, to get all the steps done with ease, you might want to go to the Promise Program at Fullerton College’s website, where you can complete your application and registration step by step. The link to the website is: https://promise.fullcoll.edu/

The Promise Program has more benefits than just getting a college education free for two years. Being a Promise Student you can receive direct help with anything education and career-related. There are advisors and coaches always there to help with transfers, registering for classes, filling out your FAFSA documents and more.