What are the characteristics of a Promise program? Because there is no national organization to clearly define such a program, there remains some debate and differing interpretations. At Cities of Promise, we take perhaps a more inclusive approach. Everyone agrees that the Promise movement is about place-based scholarships. Most would argue that it is city-, district- or county-wide initiative with an expectation of local economic development, but we are including the statewide lottery-supported programs (indicated by ••) as well. We feel that there is a lot to learn from those programs, many of which have been around for 20 years. And, of course, creating programming beyond just financial support seems to be a generally accepted component. Below is a state-by-state look at the 54 places we’ve deemed as “Cities of Promise” as well as the nine states offering scholarships. If you think we’ve missed one, let us know.

ARIZONA

	Program	City
	Promise for the Future	Coolidge

ARKANSAS

	Program	City
	Arkadelphia Promise	Arkadelphia
	The Great River Promise Scholarship	Blytheville
	El Dorado Promise	El Dorado
••	Academic Challenge Scholarships	Little Rock

CALIFORNIA

	Program	City
	Youth 2 Leaders Education Foundation	Bakersfield
	Long Beach College Promise	Long Beach
	The Fulfillment Fund	Los Angeles
	East Bay College Fund	Oakland
	Richmond Promise	Richmond
	San Francisco Promise	San Francisco
	The Cuesta Promise	San Luis Obispo
	PACE Promise	San Marcos
	10,000 Degrees	San Rafael
	Ventura College Promise	Ventura

COLORADO

	Program	City
	Denver Scholarship Foundation	Denver

CONNECTICUT

	Program	City
	Hartford Promise	Hartford
	New Haven Promise	New Haven

FLORIDA

	Program	City
	Pensacola Pledge Scholars	Pensacola
••	Bright Futures Scholarship Program	Tallahassee
	Buffalo Scholarship Foundation, Inc.	The Villages

GEORGIA

	Program	City
••	HOPE Scholarships	Atlanta

ILLINOIS

	Program	City
	UChicago Promise	Chicago
	Galesburg Promise	Galesburg
	Peoria Promise	Peoria
	Rockford Promise	Rockford

INDIANA

	Program	City
	College Bound Scholarship	Hammond

KENTUCKY

	Program	City
	Hopkinsville Rotary Scholars	Hopkinsville
••	Kentucky Educational Excellence Scholarship	Lexington

LOUISIANA

	Program	City
••	Taylor Opportunity Program for Students	Baton Rouge

MARYLAND

	Program	City
	Garrett County Scholarship Program	McHenry
	Montgomery College Promise	Rockville

MICHIGAN

	Program	City
	The Baldwin Promise	Baldwin
	Legacy Scholars	Battle Creek
	Bay Commitment Scholarship	Bay City
	Benton Harbor Promise Zone	Benton Harbor
	Detroit Scholarship Fund	Detroit
	Detroit College Promise	Detroit
	Challenge Scholars	Grand Rapids
	Hazel Park Promise	Hazel Park
	The Holland/Zeeland Promise	Holland
	The Kalamazoo Promise	Kalamazoo
	Lansing Promise	Lansing
	Northport Promise	Northport
	Pontiac Promise Zone	Pontiac
	Saginaw Promise	Saginaw

NEVADA

	Program	City
	The Fulfillment Fund	Las Vegas

NEW JERSEY

	Program	City
	Cooperman College Scholars	Newark

NEW MEXICO

	Program	City
••	Legislative Lottery Scholarship Program	Albuquerque

NEW YORK

	Program	City
	Say Yes To Education Buffalo	Buffalo
	Say Yes To Education Syracuse	Syracuse

NORTH CAROLINA

	Program	City
	The Cleveland County Promise	Shelby

OHIO

	Program	City
	Montgomery County Ohio College Promise	Dayton

OKLAHOMA

	Program	City
	Tulsa Achieves	Tulsa

OREGON

	Program	City
	Bernard Daly Educational Fund	Lakeview

PENNSYLVANIA

	Program	City
	The Pittsburgh Promise	Pittsburgh

SOUTH CAROLINA

	Program	City
••	LIFE Scholarship Program	Columbia

TENNESSEE

	Program	City
	Dyer County Promise Scholarship	Dyersburg
••	Tennessee Promise	Nashville

TEXAS

	Program	City
	Rusk TJC Citizens Promise	Tyler

VIRGINIA

	Program	City
	Beacon of Hope	Lynchburg

WEST VIRGINIA

	Program	City
••	The Promise Scholarship	Charleston

WISCONSIN

	Program	City
	La Crosse Promise	La Crosse
	The Degree Project	Milwaukee