Incoming freshman now have one more motivation to do well in high school: free college education.

Harper College has started a program, the Harper Promise, that could give students a free ride at their campus.

“The students that meet [certain] benchmarks could earn the first semester at Harper College tuition free,” District Coordinator of Student Services Dustin Seemann said in an e-mail. “If they continue to meet the same criteria at Harper, they could earn up to four free semesters of college tuition [there.]”

Details of the exact criteria are currently sketchy.

“They haven’t quantified it,” Assistant Principal for Student Services Valerie Norris said. “They haven’t given an exact GPA, they haven’t given [an] exact attendance [requirement]… they haven’t said anything.”

It will, however, take more than just good grades and attendance to be eligible.

“It’s a variety of factors,” college and career counselor Paul Genovese said. “There’s [also] a volunteer component [that involves] doing some volunteer work throughout a student’s high school career.”

The program has the potential to keep college costs low for students.

“This is a great opportunity for [students] to receive an Associates Degree at little to no charge,” Seemann said. “[It could really save] these students on student loans!”

Private businesses such as Square D are helping make the program a reality.

“[They’re] helping pay for this program because it benefits them,” Genovese said. “They’re interested because they want to get the kids that come out of Harper or a four-year school; they want some good, quality students.”

The program could help a variety of students.

“I think it’s for average to even above-average students,” Norris said. “A straight-A student is welcome to attend Harper and then transfer to a four-year college.”

Not all qualifying students will necessarily want to opt into the scholarship.

“There’s definitely going to be kids who want the traditional college experience, and that’s fine, too,” Norris said. “It’s really kind of a personal decision.”

The administration believes programs like this could become more widespread in the years to come.

“I think it would be slow, but I think that competition will create the necessity for the other colleges to start getting larger endowments to offer scholarships,” Norris said.

In the long run, the program will open up options for students.

“I think it’s good for anyone that meets the criteria,” Norris said. “How can you walk away from four free semesters?”