For Abigail Lutton, the $40,000 in scholarship funds she received from the Pittsburgh Promise means she’s not drowning in debt after earning an economics degree from Penn State University.
While attending Brashear High School, the Promise funds motivated Lutton and her classmates to work for good grades. “I think it definitely gave people hope that the dreams they had were a possibility,” said Lutton, 24.
Now Lutton is an executive administrator in the Allegheny County Controller’s Office, but the Promise remains an important part of her life. As president of the Pittsburgh Promise Legacy, an independent alumni group that helps to fundraise for the Promise, Lutton is leading efforts to raise $20,000 for the fund by May.
Meeting that mark would be a minute step toward extending the future of the scholarship fund that has helped finance college or trade school for nearly 8,200 high school graduates since 2008.
The Promise has only committed to paying for college through Pittsburgh’s class of 2028 — with $61 million still needed to fulfill the pledge. That means qualified students currently in grades 3-12 in Pittsburgh Public Schools, Wilkinsburg schools and charter schools in the city can count on Promise funds to help pay for college or trade school. But students in grades K-2 don’t have that assurance.
Whether funding will be available for future students who earn a minimum 2.5 GPA and attend school 90 percent of the time is a question presently lacking a definitive answer.
To be clear, Promise officials are not saying the sun will set on the Promise after the class of 2028.
“I feel confident that we will be able to keep the Promise going, but we can’t guarantee it,” said Maxwell King, a Promise board member and CEO and executive director of the Pittsburgh Foundation*. King said a longer commitment would not be prudent based on the Promise’s current funding situation.
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