Lake Erie College launches ‘Painesville Promise’

Lake Erie College officials this week announced the launch of the “Painesville Promise,” a publicprivate partnership designed to help advance the mutual goals of the school, the city of Painesville, and Painesville City Local Schools.

The initiative aims to enhance Painesville’s level of educational attainment for its residents as well as confront the issue of student loan debt at a local level, noted Lake Erie College President Brian Posler.

“We (at Lake Erie College) are incredibly proud to reside in Painesville, and I am thrilled to significantly increase our commitment to the local students of Painesville in making college affordable,” he said. “We are pleased to make a significant new commitment to local students by

giving them a means to obtain their degree entirely grant funded.”

The strategic partnership would allow well-prepared Painesville students of modest means the opportunity to attend Lake Erie College for four years without paying any tuition out of pocket, and without taking on a single loan to pay for tuition and fees.

Lake Erie College currently offers millions of dollars in institutional grants for its students, but does not attract large numbers of Painesville students.

“We realize that a college education is a financial burden for many families, and we have a vested interest in attracting more local, commuter students to the college, which would allow us to grow without the burden of increased housing infrastructure,” said Mike Brown, Lake Erie College’s vice president of enrollment.

“We would also like to make more progress on our diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives as part of our strategic plan,” he added. “We hope to attract more academically wellprepared, local students who might otherwise not be able to afford a college education.”

According to 2018 Census data, even though Lake County has 27.9 percent of its residents holding a bachelor’s degree or higher, Painesville is only at 16.3 percent, behind state (26.7 percent) and national (30.3 percent) averages, which, in turn, poses challenges for economic development and the attraction/retention of businesses seeking a welleducated workforce.

“One of Painesville’s greatest assets is the young people who live in our city,” said Councilman Jim Fodor.

“This program is a joint opportunity for the college, the family and the city, working together where we’re establishing roots and traditions and trying to provide employers in the city with employees that are ready to go as soon as they graduate from college.

“Hopefully, year after year, we’ll be sharing the success that we’ve had.”

A talented and skilled workforce is one of the reasons Northeast Ohio’s targeted industries choose a location for business and industry, noted Painesville Economic Development Director Cathy Bieterman.

“This program is a grassroots effort at building that talent here locally and retaining them to fill the workforce gaps in our community, and enhance the competitiveness of our local companies and corporations,” she said.

Posler noted Painesville Promise comes at a fitting time as the college has a renewed focus on its strategic plan.

“The goals within our plan, including growing enrollment, a communitywide effort to increase inclusion, equity and diversity, and instilling a sense of pride of place, fit nicely with the new initiative,” he said.

Eligible students would already have qualified for federal and state needbased grants, in addition to some academic scholarships and need-based grants from the college.

As part of the Painesville Promise, the college would increase institutional financial aid packages for these students. Painesville will also commit resources to help these students afford college.

Criteria for program eligibility include:

• First-time freshmen who apply and have been accepted to Lake Erie College

• Students with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or above and a score in the top 50th percentile on standardized tests (18 or above on the ACT or 960 or above on the SAT)

• Families who file Free Application for Federal Student Aid and are Ohio College Opportunity Grant eligible and full federal Pell Grant eligible

• Students who reside within the city limits for the past two academic years

Students who are admitted must enroll in fulltime undergraduate study at Lake Erie College.

“Painesville Promise has the potential to make a college education available to students who may otherwise not have access,” said Painesville City Local Schools Superintendent Josh Englehart. “As a school district, we are constantly seeking to increase opportunity for the students we serve, and we are appreciative of and ecstatic for the collaboration.

“This program truly widens the net of possibility,” he added. “While we’ve worked hard to knock down barriers (to access) for our students and their families, the cost of a college education can be insurmountable for many. We recognize the importance of leveraging our resources for the betterment of our students’ futures. Painesville Promise is representative of such an effort.”

“This program is a joint opportunity for the college, the family and the city ...” —Councilman Jim Fodor