Thanks to a Central Valley-wide partnership, local students in Firebaugh and Mendota will soon have access to a free semester of college at West Hills College Coalinga and West Hills’ North District Center in Firebaugh.
The partnership, called the Central Valley Promise, provides a tuition free semester to eligible high schools students within the Firebaugh-Las Deltas Unified School District and Mendota Unified School District. Currently a pilot program for high school students entering community college in the Fall of 2018, it has brought together partner institutions dedicated to education in the Central Valley.
“We are very excited to be a part of this incredible initiative,” said Dr. Bertha Felix Mata, Associate Dean/Director of North District Center, Firebaugh. “We’re excited about what it can do for our students. As the sole accredited provider of postsecondary education in the rural Westside of the San Joaquin Valley, West Hills College Coalinga (WHCC) with an outreach center in Firebaugh-North District Center (Firebaugh Center) plays a critical role to the local population pursuing postsecondary education. Firebaugh Center Firebaugh helps mitigate barriers in educational attainment for the low-income, first generation youth in our rural service area, most of whom are also minority students.”
West Hills Community College District is just one of the institutions involved in the Central Valley Promise, which also includes Fresno State, State Center Community College District, the Fresno County Office of Education, Fresno Unified School District, Central Valley Higher Education Consortium, Central Valley Community Foundation, Kings Canyon Unified School District, Firebaugh Las-Deltas Unified School District, Mendota Unified School District, Sanger Unified School District, and the Dorothy Mitsuoka Central Valley College Promise Scholars.
Students interested in becoming a part of this pilot program for the Fall 2018 semester within the West Hills Community College District must graduate from Mendota Unified or Firebaugh Las-Deltas Unified School District high schools with at least a 2.7 GPA, complete high school A-G requirements, and be eligible for priority registration at West Hills College Coalinga.
For more information about the Central Valley Promise, visit http://centralvalleypromise.org/
To apply for the Promise, please contact one of the following counselors for more information:
Lizette Jacobo, Firebaugh High School: (559) 659-1415
Vanessa Covarrubias, Mendota High School: (559) 655-1993
Maria Ceballos, WHCC-Firebaugh Center Counselor: (559) 934-2957