Unlocking Opportunities: A Guide to Miami Dade College Presidential Scholarships

College promise programs, or place-based scholarships, are aimed at helping students attend and afford higher education. Miami Dade College (MDC) stands as one of the nation’s largest institutions of higher learning, boasting over 120,000 students across eight campuses. Recognizing the importance of accessible education, MDC offers various scholarship opportunities for new, continuing, returning, and transfer students. These scholarships aim to relieve the financial burden of pursuing higher education and attract high-achieving students. Among these opportunities, the Presidential Scholars program and the American Dream Scholarship (ADS) stand out as prominent avenues for students to achieve their academic aspirations.

The American Dream Scholarship (ADS)

The American Dream Scholarship (ADS), offered by Miami Dade College (MDC), is a promise program that covers tuition and fees for the first 60 credits of an associate degree for students residing in and graduating from high school in Miami-Dade County. The ADS is a single-institution promise program. It is not disbursed in cash but applied directly by the institution at the in-state tuition rate and as a last-dollar scholarship to cover tuition and fees-after students have exhausted all other forms of aid, including federal aid (e.g., Pell Grants), state financial aid, and other institutional scholarships. However, students that do not receive other forms of aid can use the ADS to pay for the entire amount of tuition and fees.

Eligibility Requirements for ADS

To be eligible for the ADS, students must meet specific criteria:

Reside in Miami-Dade County.
Earn a high school diploma, GED, or home school diploma in Miami-Dade County during the academic year prior to enrolling.
Be entering college for the first time.
Have a weighted cumulative high school grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or higher. In the high school GPA calculation, students benefit from Miami-Dade County public schools’ policy of weighting a 3.0, or a letter grade of B, as a 4.0 for honors courses and 5.0 for Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, and Advanced International Certificate of Education courses.
Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or an Expected Family Contribution (EFC) calculator.
Demonstrate college readiness by achieving minimum scores on standardized tests or have a cumulative high school weighted GPA of 3.5.
Enroll in at least 12 credits during their first semester at MDC.

Approximately 3,700 students meet these criteria yearly representing about one-third of the entering MDC cohort. Since the scholarship’s inauguration, more than 17,000 students have received the ADS as of 2018. According to Adam Porro, the Director of the American Dream Scholarship, the majority of ADS recipients are female and 18% are Black.

Impact and Support System of ADS

Anecdotally speaking, the ADS has positively impacted MDC’s retention and graduation efforts-85%-88% of ADS recipients return to college their second fall semester, compared to 55% nationally. To enhance high school students’ familiarity with the ADS and MDC, ADS coordinators assign counselors to area schools; seven of MDC’s eight campuses have assigned area feeder high schools. Also, working with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has enabled ADS coordinators to provide students with a more structured support system. For example, ADS provides several non-financial supports to its recipients, including designated advisors, FAFSA renewal reminders, success teams to help ADS students access resources and stay on track for graduation, and pinning ceremonies in the fall. Ultimately, ADS coordinators hope program graduates will be encouraged to become global leaders and give back to their communities.

ADS's Impact on Enrollment

The ADS program was implemented by MDC for several purposes. First, it aims to relieve the financial burden of pursuing higher education. Second, the program intends to attract high-achieving students, who tend to be from socioeconomically privileged backgrounds. These students would expand the academic and socioeconomic diversity of the MDC student body, 78% of whom work while attending college, 58% of whom are low-income, and 49% of whose family incomes fall below the federal poverty level. Results suggest that compared to untreated institutions in the Florida College System and institutions with the same Carnegie Classification, MDC enrolled 18.5% and 32% more first-time, full-time degree-seeking undergraduates, respectively, after ADS’s inception.

Presidential Scholars Program

ADS students are well-represented in MDC’s Honors College; among its high-achieving Presidential Scholars, who have at least a cumulative high school GPA of 3.5; and in its prestigious Rising Black Scholars program. Presidential Scholars must have cumulative weighted GPA of 3.50 or above. In addition, students will have access to assigned advisors and support in a number of areas, including program orientation, learning resources, career tracks, student life, community involvement, financial coaching, mentoring and much more.

Benefits of the Program

This scholarship covers all in-state tuition, fees and books and is available to high-achieving students who are accepted into the Honors College. This program offers customized services and opportunities.

Other Scholarship Opportunities at MDC

Miami Dade College offers various scholarship opportunities for new, continuing, returning, and transfer students. By submitting the MDC Scholarship Application, you have the chance to be matched with one out of 300+ available scholarship opportunities. Students must enroll in at least 6 degree-seeking credits for each term a scholarship is awarded.

Scholarships for Graduating High School Students

Are you a student who just graduated high school and is entering college for the first time? These scholarships may be for you. Get an early start to your college education by enrolling in the summer term following high school graduation.

Scholarships for Workforce Program Enrollees

Are you currently enrolled in a workforce program? Do you currently reside in the state of Florida? If so, you may be eligible for Open Door. We will cover your tuition balance, exams, books, uniforms, and more.

MDC Board of Trustees Transfer Scholarship

The MDC Board of Trustees scholarship is awarded to students who are graduating with an Associate's Degree and planning on pursuing a Bachelor's Degree. The scholarship is valued at $5,000. At least two letter(s) of recommendation addressed to the Miami Dade College Board of Trustees Transfer Scholarship Committee. We encourage all applications to be submitted electronically.

Additional Scholarship Descriptions

Covers the cost of Eligible College Credit Certificate Programs.
Available to MDC students with EdFed Credit Union membership.
Provides education assistance for financially needy dependents of individuals killed or permanently disabled in the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Supports students planning to teach in high-need fields in low-income areas.
UNCF offers various scholarships for eligible students.
Designed for students who aspire to serve in the United States Coast Guard.

The Significance of Promise Programs

Nationwide, college promise programs, or place-based scholarships, often help students fulfill postsecondary educational goals by diminishing the financial burden of pursuing higher education. These programs have eligibility criteria that require that the student reside in a particular geographic area or attend high school in a certain school district and typically cover tuition and required fees. Ever since discussions of “free college” became widespread during the 2016 presidential election, promise programs have grown nationwide.

Existing studies of promise programs generally show that these programs increase first-time enrollment at eligible two- and four-year institutions. The last-dollar Knox Achieves program increased the proportion of students from high school who enrolled at eligible community colleges in Tennessee by 3-5 percentage points. Other last-dollar, localized programs (eligible for those residing in a city or county), such as the Pittsburgh Promise, increased the proportion of high school students enrolling at any postsecondary institution in Pennsylvania by 5 percentage points, while the Buffalo “Say Yes to Education” program increased enrollment by 8 percentage points at eligible colleges in New York. A study of 32 single-institution promise programs, or those programs that award students funding to attend a single college or college system (such as MDC), found that these programs increased first-time, full-time enrollment by 9%-22% at eligible community colleges.

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