The San Francisco Promise — created in July 2008 with funding from San Francisco Mayor’s Office, Department of Children, Youth and Families — makes higher education an attainable goal for every eligible student in the San Francisco Unified School District through a unique partnership with San Francisco State University. The Mayor’s Office committed $1 million in funding for the first four years.
 
The partners work together to increase the percentage of San Francisco Unified students who are prepared for and attend college directly from high school; who enroll at City College of San Francisco and successfully transfer to SF State or another four-year college or university; who complete the A-though-G curriculum and are prepared to attend San Francisco State University directly from high school; and who graduate with a bachelor’s — or even advanced — degrees.

Since the program began, the number of freshmen enrolled at SF State from the city’s public high schools has grown by 52 percent.