It’s true!

Scholarships for students in the Buffalo Public School system will cover up to 100% of their tuition at a post-secondary institution for the next 20 years. The class of 2013 will be the first class eligible for the scholarships. Read the Buffalo News article Here.

All SUNY Schools are participating in the program, and more partner colleges will soon be added to the list. If a student is accepted to any of these schools the Say Yes Scholarship will pay up to 100% of their tuition depending on how many years the student has been in the buffalo Public School system. The scholarship does not pay for room and board or other school related expenses.

Say Yes to Education committed to bring an initial $15 million to partner with local providers to deliver comprehensive supports to all schools, including free after-school and summer programming, counseling, legal services, and health care. The Say Yes commitment is boosted by additional financial and in-kind supports provided by The Wallace Foundation and the American Institutes for Research to bolster planning, research and evaluation efforts.

Combined, the Say Yes Buffalo Promise initiative will invest millions of dollars toward improving student services throughout the city, helping to increase graduation rates and providing the promise of a college education to each of the city’s students.

Specifically, Say Yes will:

• Provide students who graduate from a Buffalo Public School (traditional or charter) with up to 100 percent of the tuition needed to attend a SUNY post-secondary institution. The amount of tuition support is based on financial need and length of time in the public school system which at a minimum can be four years of high school.
• Provide comprehensive out-of-school supports—including after-school tutoring and summer learning opportunities—that extend learning time for students and place service coordinators in every school.
• Support research and professional development to strengthen instruction and school performance; and
• Create tools and strategies to help improve fiscal responsibility in spending and promote improved transparency for school and district performance.