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Updated: March 30, 2025 @ 4:21 am
South Central College student Kailen Roeder is among students benefitting from the North Star Promise program, which provides free tuition to those who are eligible.
Casey Ek
Kailen Roeder plans to attend a four-year college after he graduates from South Central College in the fall. He’ll go on to study math.
South Central College student Kailen Roeder is among students benefitting from the North Star Promise program, which provides free tuition to those who are eligible.
Casey Ek
Kailen Roeder plans to attend a four-year college after he graduates from South Central College in the fall. He’ll go on to study math.
Kailen Roeder, of Le Sueur, didn’t think a four-year college was in his future. That is, until his dad told him about the North Star Promise Scholarship program.
The state scholarship became available in fall of 2024 and is for Minnesota residents whose family’s adjusted gross income is $80,000 or less. It’s known as a “last-dollar” program, providing a tuition-free path to higher education for eligible Minnesota residents. It covers the balance of tuition and fees after other scholarships, grants and tuition waivers are applied.
For Roeder, 22, it was a game changer. He’s attending South Central College in North Mankato tuition free thanks to the North Star Promise Scholarship. After graduating in the fall, he’ll likely go on to either Minnesota State University or the University of Minnesota to study math.
“In a lot of ways hearing about the scholarship is what got me to go to college to begin with,” he said. “I hadn’t initially planned on going to college and hearing about it is what changed my mind and made me realize I could. Once I got to South Central I realized I could get a four-year degree. I hadn’t planned on that. I had planned on a two-year degree.”
At South Central, 1,150 students received North Star Promise scholarships, with 265 scholarships covering tuition and fees and an additional 885 covering other educational expenses. Awards ranged from $60 to $4,000 for the 2024-25 school year, said Laura Attenberger, vice president of academic affairs. That accounts for about $1.1 million in funding.
At Minnesota State University 1,333 students have received North Star Promise Scholarship dollars. The average amount awarded for 2024-25 was $3,953, bringing the total distribution to students enrolled this year to $5,269,399.
Brian Jones, interim assistant vice president for enrollment management at MSU, said about 9 percent of their students received North Star Promise scholarships for the 2024-25 school year.
“I think that’s good,” Jones said. “There’s a real impact for a lot of students on our campus.”
High school counselors are steering lower-income students to the scholarship opportunity.
“I push it pretty hard,” said Paul Marlin, counselor at Waseca High School.
He urges students to complete their FAFSA — or Free Application for Federal Student Aid — which is the first step in qualifying for North Star Promise funds.
Jessica Kirschner, counselor at Le Sueur Henderson High School, said she first broaches the North Star topic to seniors at the beginning of the year.
“It’s continuing to educate and make sure they know there are funds available to them to attend college if that’s what they’re choosing to do after graduation,” she said.
Marlin said the scholarship removes barriers for students who think college isn’t possible for them. “It potentially has a huge effect,” he said.
“It really means an opportunity for them to attend college at a time when they may not have been able to pursue an education at all,” Attenberger said.
Jones said the North Star Promise “broadens the scope” for lower-income families. “The North Star Promise Scholarship helped expand the pool of needy students who can get help,” he said.
“I think the biggest thing is it gives them the opportunity to attend college affordably,” Kirschner said. “I do have a couple of students who qualify for the North Star Promise and it’s been a game changer because they were thinking college wouldn’t be an option for them. Or they thought they’d have to work a year to save up and then go. Now they’re planning on attending a four-year college right after graduation. Having that access has been helpful to them.”
Cilicia Martinez, a senior at Le Sueur-Henderson High School, is 18 and plans to attend MSU for nursing after high school graduation this spring. The North Star Promise was a game changer for her, too.
She said the scholarship opened up doors for her and gave her a better opportunity to choose from different colleges. She heard about the scholarship first from Kirschner.
“I was immediately like, oh my gosh, this is crazy,” Martinez said. “I think the North Star Promise can be life changing for many students. I’m the first in my family to go to college. It’s really exciting to have the North Star Promise with me. I can see a very bright future.”
Roeder said his initial reaction to learning of the North Star Promise was “shock, mixed with excitement and fear. Shock because I hadn’t anticipated a program like this would be implemented. Excitement because I could go to college. And fear because I realized I didn’t have excuses any more. I had to go to college at that point.”
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