College of the Desert to give local students free year of college

College of the Desert will begin offering local high schoolers a free year of college beginning in the fall of 2017.

The program, called “plEdge” (no, that is not a typo), guarantees one year of free tuition to  graduating Coachella Valley students pursuing full-time enrollment at the junior college beginning in the fall of this year.

“We do not want cost to keep students from pursuing their education,” Joel L. Kinnamon, Ed.D., COD Superintendent/President told KESQ. “We know that an education makes a difference for each student, their families, our community and our economy.”

Students must meet certain qualifications, complete work experience or community service, and maintain a certain level of academic performance.

Further details on the program were not provided and there is no word yet on how this might affect class sizes or deal with course enrollment limitations.