Horace Mann Hall, which was renovated with state funds in 2023, is seen on Rhode Island College’s campus. The building houses the Feinstein School of Education and Human Development, which offers some of the programs of study prioritized by the school’s Hope Scholarship program. (Courtesy of Rhode Island College)

The Hope Scholarship at Rhode Island College (RIC) seems to be living up to its title by producing small gains in the school’s lagging enrollment, the first annual review of the program shows.

Less than a year into the program, RIC has seen higher retainment rates among Hope-enrolled students, who have also taken more classes and more credits. Also on the rise: In-state gross deposits from eligible Hope scholars are up 74.3% from last year.

“The message about the game-changing potential of the Hope Scholarship is reaching Rhode Island students and their families,” said John Taraborelli, RIC spokesperson, in an emailed statement. 

The scholarship pays for a student’s junior and senior years if they commit to RIC as a freshman. Fashioned into law during the 2023 legislative session, the scholarship is meant to increase the number of students who enroll and complete four-year degrees at the state school, with an emphasis on “high-need fields” in health care, nursing and the trades. (Students aren’t required to take those majors, however.) 

The RIC website specifies that students declare a major by their junior year, and that they “commit to live, work or continue education in RI after graduation.”

The scholarship effectively competes with the similar Promise program at Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI). Promise began in 2017 and was designed by then-Gov. Gina Raimondo to encompass two years of free tuition at RIC, CCRI and the University of Rhode Island (URI). Cost concerns led lawmakers to limit the free tuition program to CCRI, and lower enrollment numbers soon followed at RIC and URI. 

 The program’s annual review was prepared in June and the data it contains is still nascent: The scholarship program began in November 2023, so it has yet to complete a full enrollment cycle. Baseline enrollment numbers, the report noted, are expected in fall 2024 once registration is complete.

“We won’t begin to see true measurable results until the first cohort of graduating high school seniors enter college (Fall 2024) then complete their bachelor’s degree (Spring 2028),” the report noted. “We believe the real results of Hope have not yet been fully realized and we will begin to see the true impact once the program is fully implemented.”

But so far, so good: There were 876 more applications this year, a 15.6% increase, and in-state, Hope-eligible applications were up nearly 47%. The majority of the fall 2023 Hope students, 83%, attempted to take 15 or more credits, and 99% of Hope recipients earned all their fall credits. Compared to about 87% of non-Hope full-time students, nearly 98% of Hope students were retained from fall to spring semesters.

The report projected a 67% four-year graduation rate for Hope scholars — not all that low considering the four-year graduation rate for RIC first years averaged only 20% across 2014-2018. In that same period, the average graduation rate was 26% at comparable four-year state colleges.

Still, there are 69 Hope seniors who had not completed their coursework as of the report’s June publication. Three adult students had different eligibility rules, one student was on academic warning in spring 2024, and another student didn’t complete coursework for undisclosed “personal and/or medical challenges,” the report noted, but could appeal the decision and continue their studies.

As for the remaining 30% or so of these students, the report lumps them together, even though their reasons for not completing on time vary. Among these 64 students are double majors, and students enrolled in programs that need more than eight semesters to complete. There were also students who “were enrolled in the minimum full-time course load and did not have a plan for year-round learning,” according to the report, which means taking fewer than 15 credits a semester.

The report suggests that 62% of the non-graduating students are in the high-demand fields, like nursing and education, and students taking especially strenuous plans of study can be considered “on track to graduate” despite not finishing in exactly four years. 

The Hope scholarship program cost the state a projected $2.2 million in fiscal year 2024, and will likely cost $3.9 million in fiscal 2025, according to the report. 

But not all the Hope scholars actually need the program’s money. Taraborelli said there were 112 Hope-eligible students who “had enough other financial aid that they didn’t actually need to receive Hope funds…[but] still benefit[ted] from the program in terms of advising and targeted outreach, even if they don’t receive funds.”

A full-time program director was hired to help the program succeed on the RIC campus, but the report noted that additional promotions are needed to publicize Hope to Rhode Islanders. 

“While we hosted a successful Hope-themed guidance counselor breakfast this past year, we have not yet done significant outreach to local high school teachers,” the report reads. “This is important as classroom teachers often have an influence on student’s decisions to attend college.”

The college also plans to increase its multilingual advertising, use student voices in its marketing, and create a student ambassador program, the report said. 

The enhanced outreach could be helpful as the scholarship isn’t going away anytime soon: Gov. Dan McKee rallied for and successfully won increased support for the Hope Scholarship in his 2025 budget. The state legislature agreed and extended the pilot to 2030. 

“The extension of the Hope Scholarship is a win for Rhode Islanders — now and for generations to come,” McKee said in a statement Thursday. “While we know that higher education is often the key to raising incomes for Rhode Island, we also understand the financial burden this can be.”

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PROVIDENCE – The Rhode Island Department of Health is warning Rhode Islanders after a resident died from an infection caused by bacteria that live in warm saltwater and brackish water.

The unidentified Rhode Islander died from vibriosis, caused by the bacteria Vibrio vulnificus, the Health Department said.

Vibrio bacteria can be dangerous to people if they have an open wound and enter saltwater or brackish water, the Department of Health said. Open wounds include recent cuts and scrapes, recent surgery sites, and recent piercings and tattoos, according to the Health Department.

How common is Vibrio vulnificus?

Infections with Vibrio vulnificus are very rare, and they are much more serious for people with underlying health issues, the Health Department said.

In severe cases, wounds infected with Vibrio vulnificus can lead to sepsis and can be life-threatening, the Health Department said.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, “Many people with Vibrio vulnificus infection require intensive care or limb amputations, and about 1 in 5 people with this infection die, sometimes within a day or two of becoming ill.”

It is more common in warmer months.

“While Vibrio is rare, it is important for anyone at risk to take precautions while spending time in or around brackish water or saltwater when the weather is warm,” Director of Health Dr. Jerry Larkin said. “Stay out of the water and take precautions if you have a break in the skin or open wound, particularly if you are at higher risk for serious illness.”

Have there been there other cases in Rhode Rhode Island?

People can also become infected with Vibrio after consuming raw or undercooked seafood, the Health Department said.

Before this case, Rhode Island’s last reported case of Vibrio vulnificuswas in 2017.

Last summer, the CDC issued a news release describing an increase in severe Vibrio vulnificuscases in the Eastern United States, the Health Department said. Cases were identified in North Carolina, New York and Connecticut in 2023.

For more information, go to the CDC’s website.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: RI resident dies of infection from Vibrio bacteria found in saltwater

The seven-figure price tag is the highest on record for a residential property in the city, according to Kerry Park, a senior vice president at the Rhode Island Association of Realtors, citing digital records dating back to 1988 available through the State-Wide Multiple Listing Service.

Notably, those records do not include private, off-market sales, according to Park.

Reynolds, however, wasn’t exactly surprised the listing fetched such a substantial figure given the “potential that the property has,” she said.

“It’s in such an amazing site, and waterfront properties in Rhode Island are very, very rare to find where it’s dry [and] you’re not in a really challenging flood zone,” Reynolds said.

She added: “For what it offers, you couldn’t touch that in Newport or Portsmouth or Narragansett. It just would be unheard of.”

The 3,144-square-foot property last sold in 2019 for $605,000 and now has a total assessed value of $804,500, city records show.

Reynolds said the seller invested heavily in the home since then, to address “extensive structural work.”

The eye-catching sales price is far above most homes in East Providence, where the median household income is $71,736, according to 2020 US Census data.

The median sales price for residential properties in the city is approximately $417,000, according to Realtor.com.

But there are pockets of East Providence where homes have sold for more than $1 million this summer, Reynolds said.

“I think there are sections of East Providence that are fabulous for first-time buyers or for people looking to downsize,” she said. “But there’s also a lot of people from the East Side of Providence and from other communities [who] are finding that they can buy a tremendous house with lower taxes and at a better price than maybe some of what the other communities are able to offer.”

Across the Ocean State, the housing market remains tight: In June the median price of a single-family home hit $494,000, a new record, as sales dropped by more than 19 percent, the Rhode Island Association of Realtors reported last month.

The Riverside Drive residence has what Reynolds described as a unique layout: The primary house dates back to 1920 and boasts three bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms, records available through the city’s assessor’s office show.

An attached “cottage” with a separate entrance was added sometime later and houses two bedrooms and a bathroom, Reynolds said. The residence includes access to a private beach and was listed as both a single-family and a multi-family home, though it has been used primarily as the former for the past two decades, Reynolds said.

Christopher Gavin can be reached at christopher.gavin@globe.com.