Nebraska Promise has provided free tuition to 18,000 NU students

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – The University of Nebraska’s free tuition program has helped more than 18,000 students.

The Nebraska Promise was rolled out in 2020 as a response to the pandemic, but unlike COVID-19, the program is here to stay.

One administration member responsible for its creation was the soon-to-be interim president of NU, Chris Kabourek.

“We want to give every kid across the state an opportunity despite what their socioeconomic background is,” he said.

Kabourek is a first-generation college student himself. He said he understands the importance of scholarships and how they can help students achieve goals.

To qualify for the program, students must be Nebraska residents with a family income of $65,000 or less.

Kabourek said the NU system did not want to lose a generation of students from the workforce if they have college ambitions, and wanted to make sure they could get higher education in their home state.

“I always knew as a kid and in high school that I wanted to go to college,” said Nonie Mitchell, a Nebraska Promise recipient. “I’ve always loved school, and now I’m going into education. I’m a secondary education major, so it has really made that possible for me.”

The program also allows students such as Abby Steffen to focus on her education without having to worry about how she is going to pay tuition.

If I didn’t have the Nebraska Promise, I wouldn’t have been able to be more involved on campus and build some other skill sets.” she said. “I’d be spending most of my time working instead of studying or branching out.”

The university said it has enrolled at least one student from each county in Nebraska since 2020 through the program.

Officials said it is committed to not only bring students in, but ensure they finish.

They said the retention rate for the Nebraska Promise has risen steadily to 77%.

“I don’t think I would be in college if it wasn’t for the Nebraska Promise,” Mitchell said.