MILWAUKEE — The pandemic has caused some to put off their higher education experience. 

In light of the stress this past year has caused students, Milwaukee Area Technical College re-opened its application window for the MATC Promise. It now includes students from the Class of 2020 who have not yet gone to college.

“They can still apply for the MATC Promise, even if they decided to sit the last year out,” said Laura Bray, MATC’s Vice President of College Advancement and External Communications.

The deadline for students is now June 30. The MATC Promise deadline for adults is Aug. 2.

Marilyn Reyes is completing her second and last year at MATC under the Promise program. She found out about it her senior year of high school.

“I found out about the MATC Promise through my counselor because I was telling him how much I wanted to go to college after high school,” Reyes said.  “I never thought I would go to college because of my financial situation.”

Reyes is a first-generation college student.  She figured she would have to work multiple jobs to afford a higher education degree.  Her tuition is fully paid for through the MATC Promise.

“I would say to other people wanting to go to college that being in an environment where no one has done anything different, where you think things are just going to stay the same forever,” she said. “That’s not true.”

Since the program’s inception in 2016, more than 2,000 people have enrolled, according to Bray. The program makes up the roughly $1,000 gap, she said, between MATC’s tuition and financial aid opportunities.  

“130,000 people in Milwaukee County alone started college and did not complete a degree,” Bray said. “When employers say “we need more skilled workers,” they reach out to us.”

To learn more about qualifications to apply for the MATC Promise, click here.