PEORIA PROMISE: DONORFUNDED, BUSINESS APPROVED

by SHERI MCGILL Peoria Promise

Supporting more than 1,600 local students over the last six years…

Peoria Promise serves two roles: attracting educated workers to our community, and producing more of them through access to higher education. Education offers the very real potential to increase an individual’s productivity—the key to economic growth. For businesses, the return on investment is a city with a well-trained, employable population, and a more desirable place to live and do business.

Over the past six years, Peoria Promise has supported more than 1,600 City of Peoria students by providing $2.6 million in scholarships to pursue an occupational certificate, associate’s degree or transfer coursework at Illinois Central College. Students can receive up to 100 percent of their tuition fees paid, lowering financial barriers that may have prevented them from pursuing their dreams of a higher education and a better life. This has been made possible by the generous support of corporate and individual donors who believe in the power of education. Absolutely no local, state or federal taxes are collected to fund the scholarships, making these investors essential to the continued success of the organization, students and community.

Measuring the Results

Overall student success can be measured either by graduation or transfer rates. Currently, we have the complete data from our first two cohorts (2008 and 2009), and will be able to measure 2010 once those results are available.

According to the National Student Clearinghouse, Peoria Promise students have high graduation and transfer rates. Of the 238 students comprising our 2008 cohort, 164 have either graduated or transferred to another institution—a success rate of 68.9 percent. The 2009 cohort consisted of 269 students, 153 of whom have either graduated or transferred to another institution—a success rate of 56.8 percent. As time goes by, additional degrees will be received, and these numbers will continue to increase.

More than half of our students continue their education within a 60-mile radius of Peoria. While most live on campus, many are able to remain in Peoria by commuting or completing online courses. In fact, one third of transfer students attend a college or university in the City of Peoria, where they continue to live, work and spend their discretionary dollars. Everyone benefits from keeping these students local.

Although many students move away after college, our hope is that most of our students remain here or return to Peoria to begin their careers and families. Early results support this outcome. According to a recent Peoria Promise survey, more than 75 percent of respondents indicated they are currently employed, which is higher than the national average for that age group (20-24). Of those who are employed, 90 percent work in the Peoria area, including 67 percent who juggle work and school simultaneously.

» Save the Date

Former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood and Kathy LaHood will serve as honorary chairs at the sixth annual Peoria Promise Gala on October 11, 2014. The fundraising event will include a formal dinner, live and silent auctions, and featured entertainment from the world-renowned mentalist, The Amazing Kreskin. For more information, visit peoriapromise.org, call (309) 681-0091 or stop by the office, located at 620 West Glen Avenue in Peoria.

Recent Growth and Support

In 2013, Peoria Promise increased efforts to support students by establishing an office in the heart of the city. As future funding allows, additional collaborative and educational efforts will be launched to further support our students to increase degree attainment and identify employment opportunities in Peoria. Peoria Promise has the potential to become a direct conduit between students and businesses that want to provide opportunities such as job shadowing, internships, career mentors and employment. Above all, students will continue to be encouraged to stay in Peoria to live, work, play and volunteer in the community.

The same year, an online application was developed by Stellar Systems, a locally-owned business. The application, which is inte- grated with ICC’s student data network, provides increased access and a simplified process for students. Those who do not have a computer are able to use their mobile phone to apply.

Amazing Kreskin

The need for businesses to employ a skilled, educated workforce will never diminish; it will only increase, year after year. The same is true of the funding needed to support Peoria Promise and our students’ educational goals. The investments made by Peoria’s business community helps make this mission possible. From the very beginning, businesses such as Caterpillar, CEFCU, RLI, Illinois American Water, UnityPoint Health, Par-A-Dice, OSF Saint Francis Medical Center, Advanced Medical Transport, Coulter Companies, Ameren Illinois, Archer Daniels Midland Company, R.W. Baird and many more have supported this mission. Consider following their lead, and help make the promise of a higher education a reality for hundreds of more Peorians. Support Peoria Promise today!

Sheri McGill is executive director of Peoria Promise.

Overview

Over the course of 6 years Peoria Promise (PP) has funded 1613 individuals. Due to our previous dependence on Illinois Central College (ICC from this point forward) to administer every aspect of the scholarship, PP lacked the ability to accurately track and measure successful outcomes. Within the last year, we were provided the names of PP recipients and established a FERPA waiver to obtain directory, academic, and financial information for all future PP recipients. Previous PP recipients were identified through additional resources. The following results were found through online surveys and social media research.

Results: Surveys

We conducted multiple surveys via the online tool Survey Monkey. The initial survey was conducted in May 2013 and distributed by ICC to students’ ICC email addresses. The first survey had 125 respondents over the course of 5 months. A second survey was conducted once additional contact information was found by PP independently. The survey was sent out to 469 individuals in January 2014 of which 126 responded.

50 individuals took both surveys. The following is the analysis of the 201 total survey respondents, or 12.46% of the total population.

Peoria Promise helped me start saving for my future. The money I made while working and going to school was able to be put towards my future instead of trying to catch up with loans and I cannot say Thank You enough for the help.

- Amanda

Employment Status:

151 of the 201 respondents indicated that they were currently employed.

90% of the employed work in the Greater Peoria Area.

Income:

110 respondents provided their annual income.

67% are working in addition to continuing their education and are earning up to $20,000 a year.

I have a chance to make my future better for myself, and actually pave a path for myself. Instead of following in the same footsteps as my parents or even past students that graduated or didn't graduate high school. It helped me realize I can make something of myself and my voice can be heard if I try hard enough. This is the beginning of my future.

Cheyanna

Results: Complete Social Media Research

All 1613 PP recipients were individually search on Google, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Only students we could accurately identify are included.

Source: Facebook – 804 | LinkedIn – 24 | Surveys (S1 & S2) – 201 |2014 PP Application – 175

Thank You Letters - 1592

Total Sample Size - 975 (60.5%)

City of Employment

Other Peoria Cities Surrounding Peoria

Employment Status: Employment Status was verified for 795 of the 975 PP recipients

95%

84% Greater Peoria

Top Employer Industry: Based on confirmed employers the top industries were identified. Note: The individual’s position may not be in employer’s industry. (Ex accountant at OSF)

20% - Food Services

19% - Retail

14% - Healthcare

11% - Education and Community Service

9% - Manufacturing, Distributing, and Logistics.

Currently Employed

Services

19% Retail

16 Peoria Promise recipients currently work for Caterpillar