Yasin Atwoods had a good idea of what he wanted to be when he got older: a truck driver.
But that was mostly because he never thought he’d be able to afford a college education.
Then he heard about a new program through the City of Newark and Rutgers University that would provide a debt-free college education to 13 students whose lives have been touched by gun violence, incarceration, or other hardships.
It was an offer he couldn’t pass up.
Atwoods, who worked at Rutgers-Newark campus through the Abbott Leadership Institute, said his boss approached him about the new Guaranteed Education program.
“My boss asked me one day, ‘If I was able to get you into Rutgers for free, would you do it?’” he said. And through seeing the opportunities his coworkers were able to have as Rutgers students, he knew this was a chance he had to take.
The Guaranteed Education program provides full “last dollar” funding for students’ tuition and fees even after their financial assistance has been exhausted, according to city officials. The Brick City Peace Collective, a division of the city’s Office of Violence Prevention, will provide the extra funding.
Mayor Ras Baraka and interim Rutgers-Newark Chancellor Jeffery Robinson announced the launch of the program last month, alongside the leaders of the other Newark organizations involved, including Tyreek Rolon of Newark Works and the Summer Youth Employment Program, and Kyleesha Wingfield-Hill, executive director of the Office of Violence Prevention and Trauma Recovery.
In a statement, Baraka said that part of making progress in the country “requires changing the landscape of higher education.”
Thirteen students were selected for the program at Rutgers University-Newark, some from public and charter schools and a few who had completed their GED diploma.
There were unique qualifications to apply, said Rolon.
The program focused on Newark residents who were affected by the criminal justice system in some way, with a parent who was incarcerated, released in the last two years, or lost to gun violence.
Recipients also had to be a first generation college student who had applied to or participated in the city’s Summer Youth Employment Program or one of the city’s Vocational Certification Programs.
As part of the program, students have mandatory weekly group meetings, bi-weekly meetings with their mentor, and attend the university’s yearly convocation.
Students get assigned a mentor from the chancellor’s office and receive access to the school’s Honors Living and Learning Community, a section of the school that focuses on discussions and projects that have a more global impact.
Atwoods said his mentor has helped him in his first semester at Rutgers-Newark.
“My mentor, Miss Robin, she’s excellent, man,” he said. “She has a wonderful spirit, and I can tell she really cares about making me succeed.”
The city ran a similar program in 2022, with 40 Newark students receiving a debt-free education through Morristown’s St.Elizabeth University.
Rolon said that the 2022 program showed “If students are fully supported and placed into a healthy and safe environment, they will have a better opportunity to succeed and flourish into the best version of themselves.”
If any students are considering a similar program in the future, Atwoods said he recommends they make the leap like he did.
“If you really have a passion, and you know that this could possibly bring you a career in the future, go for it, the sky’s the limit,” he said.
Darius McClain is a Rutgers University-Newark reporting intern for Chalkbeat Newark covering public education in the city. Get in touch with Darius at dmcclain@chalkbeat.org or reach the bureau newsroom at newark.tips@chalkbeat.org.
