Editorial: Pittsburgh Promise is one worth keeping, and worth mourning when money runs out

In 2008, a bargain was struck with students at Pittsburgh Public Schools.

Stay in school. Get at least a 2.5 GPA. Graduate. And in return, get a scholarship toward education in a Pennsylvania post-secondary institution.

The Pittsburgh Promise nonprofit made this pledge, using donated money including a $100 million commitment from UPMC. In the 15 years since, more than 11,000 students have met the terms and received scholarships or commitments topping $170 million.

Students in Pittsburgh high schools today can still factor the Promise into their college plans. So can eighth graders.

Seventh graders cannot.

When the Class of 2028 walked into kindergarten, the bargain was still in play. That was 2016, and it was the year Pittsburgh Promise put an expiration date on the deal. The money wasn’t limitless. An end was in sight.

Executive Director Saleem Ghubril confirmed that on Sept. 15 with a letter to students and families, “an important reminder” that good things come to an end.

“We do not believe there is a capacity in the private sector” to extend the Promise further, Ghubril wrote.

The private sector is the source of the money. Total cost of 20 years of scholarships is $265 million, with $11 million still to be raised between now and the last student’s last year of college. Subtract the UPMC money and you have $144 million given by various corporations, foundations and individuals.

Yes, this is hard to sustain. Averaged over the life of the program, it is about $13.25 million per year. That’s a lot to ask of all those people and companies.

But has there ever been a plan so audacious and with such a potential return?

The Pittsburgh Promise was not a handout but an investment in people. More than 1,400 students went to Pitt campuses, 972 to Penn State, 325 to Duquesne and 141 to Carnegie Mellon. They went to the Community College of Allegheny County. They went to trade programs to become nurses, veterinary technicians, morticians and cosmetologists. They studied music and medicine and machines.

That put money into 150 colleges and programs.

The Promise grows educated and well-trained individuals who can serve Pennsylvania communities. And it creates a pool of people the companies who donated to the Promise can hire.

Is there a better way for UPMC to find nurses to hire than to help send them to school? UPMC’s nursing schools at Mercy, Shadyside and St. Margaret had Promise scholarship students.

Making it easier to be educated makes it easier to be employed and to seek employment in your backyard instead of leaving for greener grass and greener paychecks. Scholarships can make staying in your hometown affordable by lowering student loan payments. Education is key to addressing crime and improving communities.

All of that makes the Promise a pledge worth keeping and a loss worth mourning for the Class of 2029 and beyond.