Valencia College officials recently announced that more than 1,000 Osceola Prosper students have earned an associate degree — a milestone that Valencia College President Kathleen Plinske announced at a recent Osceola County Commission meeting.

Launched in 2022, Osceola Prosper provides free tuition at either Valencia College or Osceola Technical College  for every high school graduate in Osceola County. The program, which has been paid for and championed by the Osceola County Commission, covers tuition and fees for students who are pursuing an Associate in Arts degree, Associate in Science degree, technical certificate, or Accelerated Skills Training at Valencia College , or vocational programs at Osceola Technical College.

Now in its fourth year, the program has enrolled more than 10,550 participants since its start:

To date, Osceola Prosper has produced:

  • 1,143 Associate Degree graduates

  • 815 Technical Certificate completers

  • 906 Trades Program completers

Plinske also noted that, thanks to Osceola Prosper scholarship program, the college-going rate for Osceola County high school graduates has now skyrocketed to third in the state of Florida, up from 61st out of the state’s 67 counties in 2010. Plinske and county leaders at that time launched a “Got College” effort that elevated  the county’s college-going rate to  27th in the state by 2015. The Covid-19 pandemic erased many of those gains, however.

Since the launch of Osceola Prosper, the county’s college-going rate is now among the highest in the state.

“It’s a miracle,” Plinske said. “It’s big. We’re now the highest among Central Florida counties. When we started ‘Got College?’ we were the lowest. I never imagined it could be possible to supplant Seminole County (as the highest in the area).”

Plinske praised the Board of County Commissioners for their continued commitment, noting that Osceola Prosper is a rarity among scholarship programs nationwide because students have up to five years to use the funding — flexibility for students who balance work and education.

“The county commission understands the challenges for some students managing work or family responsibilities, so they have five years,” Plinske said. “Other places have (a similar scholarship), but their requirements are so stringent, it’s so difficult to qualify. What we have in Osceola County is truly one of a kind.”