CLEVELAND—Some of the first recipients of the Say Yes Scholarship received their high school diplomas over the weekend.

Say Yes to Education in Cleveland was established earlier this year. It’s an initiative that ensures students attending schools in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District and select Charter high schools can go to college.

Say Yes to Education in Cleveland focuses on boosting the economy.

And one way they’re doing it is by giving kids in middle and low-income families tuition assistance.

It fills in a huge gap for so many students getting a two or four-year degree or a career technical degree.

What makes Say Yes stand out is there is no minimum GPA or test score required to receive a scholarship. As long as students are high school graduates, living in Cleveland, attending a CMSD school, have completed the financial aid form and have been accepted into an eligible school, they can reap full benefits of the scholarship.

Say Yes Executive Director Diane Downing says having this program in Cleveland was necessary.

“We've known of students who, for lack of $800 of tuition money, dropped out of school and that will never happen again with this program,” said Downing.

In a nutshell, the Say Yes program aims to:

• Increase college enrollment
• Boost education levels in Cleveland since only 46% of residents have completed at least some college and only 16.3% have completed a bachelor’s degree or higher.
• Attract new residents and retain current ones
• Make sure college is affordable. Right now, Ohio ranks close to the bottom (45^th) for public college affordability.

“Say Yes is a game changer. It's a game changer for students. It's a game changer for families. It's a game changer for our community,” said Downing.

Max Hays school counselor, Cynthia Dalveren told Spectrum News 1 that Say Yes made it so that kids would no longer have to say no to college because they couldn’t afford it.

“For me, this is just another fire put out. It's something that has given so many students an opportunity to be successful," said Dalveren.

Dalveren says the timing couldn’t have been better for the Say Yes Scholarship launch, especially for students like Marilyn Macario.

Had the say yes scholarship not come out. She would have been in debt and we would've been struggling to fill in that gap,” said Dalveren.

The scholarship covers half of her tuition…the other half is covered by another scholarship Marilyn received from The Ohio State University.

Now that she’s free from worrying about paying for college, Macario can now focus on becoming a heart surgeon.

“My mom has heart problems so I want to be there," said Macario. "I want to, as the last youngest daughter, I want to be some help to my mom. So, I want to focus on the medical field and help not just my mom but anyone.”

Grateful for her final steps here, Macario prepares for the next chapter of her life.

Two thousand students applied for the Say Yes Scholarship.

So far $92 million has been raised to support the program.

Those who receive scholarships will also get paired with a mentor.

In the meantime, the Say Yes program will also focus on helping younger kids with tutoring, counseling and mental health services, preparing them for the future.