So far, the Dallas County Promise -- a newly launched initiative that would send every graduating senior from 31 area high schools to community college for free -- has been a rousing success.

Now comes the hard part.

The Promise, started by the Dallas County Community College District and education nonprofit Commit, blew the doors off expectations for its first self-imposed deadline: 96 percent of 9,183 students -- including seniors at Lancaster, DeSoto, Cedar Hill, Grand Prairie, South Grand Prairie and 20 of Dallas ISD’s 22 comprehensive high schools -- signed a pledge by the end of January, each promising that they would attend college.

“Four months into something live, and you have 96 percent of the students in our cohort raising their hands that they want to be a part of this, you’ve got to be pleased with that,” said Dallas County Promise managing director Eric Ban.

Regardless of their income level or GPA, students would get free tuition for three years (or completion of an associate degree) at any DCCCD campus, as well as support from a “success coach” to help them along the way.

Four-year institutions have also stepped in to help. University of North Texas at Dallas will allow all Promise students to transfer to their university, tuition-free, after their work is completed at DCCCD. On Thursday, Prairie View A&M announced that it would accept a select group of Promise graduates to continue tuition-free. Southern Methodist University previously made a similar commitment.

But the biggest hurdle for the program lies ahead.

Getting high school students to complete either federal or state financial aid forms is a major challenge. Students often mistakenly believe they aren’t eligible for aid, and the forms themselves are often seen as confusing and onerous, asking personal financial questions from families that might be hesitant to release such data.

A study by financial aid expert Mark Kantrowitz found that as many as 2 million students eligible for federal Pell grants didn't file their Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, during the 2011-12 academic year. Two-thirds of those students would have qualified for full Pell grants, the study said, with an estimated $750 million in federal aid left on the table.

The completion of financial aid is essential for the Dallas County Promise, since it is a last-dollar scholarship, meaning that it covers the gap between the cost of attending and the state and federal grants.

Ban, Promise’s managing director, said he hopes 50 percent of those who signed the pledge complete the next step.

The deadline for Dallas County Promise students to file financial aid forms is March 15, and that has created a sense of urgency, said W.W. Samuell High School Principal Jennifer Tecklenburg.

All of the seniors at Samuell -- just over 400 students -- signed the Pledge, and 36 percent of those students have completed their financial aid forms, nearly double where the school was at this point a year ago, before the program existed.

“For a long time, we’ve been able to ensure that a vast majority of seniors have been accepted to at least one college or university,” Tecklenburg said. “It’s the next step where they’re not connecting the dots. So, I think the Pledge does make them see, ‘OK, I can get there for free, but here are the steps along the way.’”

1 / 4Stephanie Gossett, an Advancement Via Individual Determination teacher helped senior Mabel Luna study for the Texas Success Initiative test at W.W. Samuell High School in Dallas on Feb. 8, 2018. The Dallas County Promise, an initiative started by Dallas County Community College District and education nonprofit Commit aims to boost college attendance and completion for students at 31 area high schools. Samuell High School had 100 percent of its seniors sign the pledge to attend college. (Jae S. Lee / Staff Photographer) 2 / 4A senior studies in preparation for the Texas Success Initiative (TSI) test at W. W. Samuell High School in Dallas, Thursday, Feb. 8, 2018. The Dallas County Promise, a new initiative started by Dallas County Community College District and education non-profit Commit, launched four months ago and its aims were to boost college attendance and completion for students at 31 area high schools. Samuell High School had 100 percent of its seniors sign the pledge to attend colleges. (Jae S. Lee/The Dallas Morning News)(Jae S. Lee / Staff Photographer) 3 / 4Seniors Michelle Martinez, left, and Patricia Oliva study in preparation for the Texas Success Initiative (TSI) test at W. W. Samuell High School in Dallas, Thursday, Feb. 8, 2018. The Dallas County Promise, a new initiative started by Dallas County Community College District and education non-profit Commit, launched four months ago and its aims were to boost college attendance and completion for students at 31 area high schools. Samuell High School had 100 percent of its seniors sign the pledge to attend colleges. (Jae S. Lee/The Dallas Morning News)(Jae S. Lee / Staff Photographer) 4 / 4Senior Israel Abraha studies in preparation for the Texas Success Initiative (TSI) test at W. W. Samuell High School in Dallas, Thursday, Feb. 8, 2018. The Dallas County Promise, a new initiative started by Dallas County Community College District and education non-profit Commit, launched four months ago and its aims were to boost college attendance and completion for students at 31 area high schools. Samuell High School had 100 percent of its seniors sign the pledge to attend colleges. (Jae S. Lee/The Dallas Morning News)(Jae S. Lee / Staff Photographer)

Brandon Walker, Samuell’s higher education adviser, said the lack of financial support is a big reason why kids from Pleasant Grove don’t go to college in higher numbers.

Recent data from Commit found that 33 percent of the school’s 2016 graduating class was enrolled in a two- or four-year college. From Samuell’s 2010 class, only 11 percent have graduated from a two- or four-year institution.

The Dallas County Promise changes that equation, Walker said.

“We’ve had a lot of different conversations, just simply around ‘What is the main reason why students from this area don’t go to college?’” Walker said. “The main [response] was money, finances. ‘My mom doesn’t have enough, I don’t have enough money to even go to a community college, let alone a four-year university.’ So we were able to break down that barrier.”

Convincing families to take the next step can be difficult for a variety of reasons, Walker and Tecklenburg said.

For some, it’s a lack of experience with higher education.

For students who are undocumented or who fall under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy, there can be a lack of trust from parents about giving all the identifying information, including income data, that's needed to complete the Texas Application for State Financial Aid, or TASFA.

DACA and undocumented students aren’t eligible for federal aid, but they can get state grants by filling out the TASFA form.

Or the reason could rest solely on financial need. Samuell students' families are 96 percent economically disadvantaged, according to DISD, and many parents are relying on their children to contribute to the household income after graduation, Tecklenburg said.

Convincing them to look beyond the present requires one-on-one conversations, she said.

“You have to know how to put it all in line and say, ‘There may not be cash coming in, but there’s two years of free college on the table here,’” Tecklenburg said. “A lot of times, once we start having those conversations with parents, they start to understand that.”

“Even if they only do two years, their odds of a higher paying job and better opportunities are significantly increased.”