Hartford Promise is a large-scale College Scholarship Fund and College Success Program for Hartford Public School students. Its mission is to transform the lives of Hartford students and the City of Hartford by strengthening Hartford's college going culture, increasing student expectations, increasing the number of Hartford students going to and graduating from college, and adding to a larger, more qualified, work-force.

In order to be eligible for a Promise Scholarship, students must meet the following qualifications: (1) be a Hartford resident throughout all four years of high school, (2) attend a Hartford Public High School throughout all four years of high school, (3) have a 93% cumulative attendance during high school, and (4) have a 3.0 cumulative GPA.  Promise Scholars will receive up to $20,000 in scholarship funds to any accredited college or university.

They also benefit from being part of our College Success Model of “Reaching Forward and Reaching Back.” We “Reach Forward” by staying closely engaged with our Scholars and building strong college/university partnerships. We are an active part of each Scholar’s “college success team” throughout college, and we facilitate connections to key people, supports, and services. This includes working closely with colleges and connecting Promise Scholars to key people including the Financial Aid office, Bursar, college advisors, academic support services, and mentoring. Connecting our Scholars to these important relationships and critical support systems while in college is an incredibly significant part of our work, and one of our main activities. 

Hartford Promise also “Reaches Back” into high school to make sure that Hartford students are college aware, college focused and college ready. The “Reaching Back” component is extremely important to achieving the goal of improving the academic readiness and educational opportunities for the children of Hartford. Hartford Promise works directly with HPHS administrators, teachers and counselors to help strengthen the college culture in each school, and to ensure that Hartford students are aware of our Scholarship and become college-aware/college-focused at the outset of their high school careers.