KISSIMMEE, Fla. — Some members of Osceola County’s class of 2025 could soon be going to college for free.

Osceola Prosper, which was started by county commissioners in 2022, was just renewed for another year. The program offers free college or technical education for all graduates from high schools in Osceola County at either Valencia College or Osceola Technical College. 

For many students, like John Urbach, the program has changed their lives.

Playing Valencia College-themed Monopoly at the school’s Osceola County campus is not where he thought he’d be if you asked him a couple of years ago. While he always wanted to go to college, he said he wasn’t sure it was in the cards for him.

“I mean, from the very get go we didn’t have, like, money to put aside, like thousands and thousands of dollars for me to go to med school or even to get my AA,” said Urbach. “You know, my parents made that very clear.”

But Urbach said he dreamed of working in the medical field someday and knew he would need to go to college to make that happen.

“I always had that in my mind that whatever I have to do to make it happen, I’m gonna make it happen,” he said.

He wasn’t sure how until Osceola Prosper.

“Then the opportunity just fell right into my left,” Urbach said.

The program was introduced when he was a high school senior, and it was a gift he never imagined.

“You don’t hear about things like that, and after working with Prosper, I learned that there’s almost no other programs like this in the entire nation,” he said. “This is one of of very few programs this, and hearing about it was like instant in my mind, like this is what I’m gonna do.”

Now, Urbach has a job in the Osceola Prosper on-campus office where he helps make the dreams of other students come true.

“I think that the program is so great, because it gives thousands of students an opportunity to come to college where they otherwise couldn’t do it,” he said. “There are so many people that I know that wanted to go to college, but they didn’t have the funds and they couldn’t make it happen unless they had the money.”

There are currently more than 7,000 students in the program, and being one of them, Urbach said he loves to help offer his support.

“I know that the same way that the program really gave me a head start in the next chapter of my life,” said Urbach. “I’m just very happy that I can help others do the same thing.”

It’s also exciting for Danielle Malfara — the coordinator of College and Career Counseling for the School District of Osceola County — because she gets to help more students pursue their dreams.

“Our college going rate has exploded,” said Malfara. “We are now fourth in the state for college-going rates, and before the program started, we were very low. So we’re very excited about the growth that we’ve made in the opportunities that our students have read their fingertips because of the investment.”

According to the district, 63% of their graduates are enrolling in secondary education today compared to 47% just two years ago.

“We know that whether it’s a four-year degree, a two-year degree, a technical certificate, a career certificate, there are so many jobs in our communities that were not here 10 years ago,” Malfara said. “And the reality of it is those higher-paying jobs do often require at least some tort of training, and that training is called college, no matter what kind of college it is.”

As for Urbach, he’s about to leave his job at Osceola Prosper as the education he is receiving at Valencia helped him land a position as a full-time medical scribe. Thanks to the flexibility of the program, he knows he’ll still be able to earn his associate degree this summer on top of that, without having to foot the bill. 

“I haven’t had to stress about having debt that or anything like that, you know, which is a huge blessing,” he said. “And I’ve been able to really focus on my studies more, because I’m not worried about paying for them.”

Looking back at his past, he’s not sure where he’d be without Osceola Prosper, but he knows where he’s heading because of it.

“I think I just, you know, would continue working at my old job as a cashier,” Urbach said. “So I think that Prosper was really kind of the catalyst that helped me really start my future.”

For more information on eligibility for the program, visit the Osceola Prosper website.