In Buffalo, a Rust Belt city still grappling with high poverty and an undereducated population, the results of the Say Yes program have exceeded expectations. Since its launch in 2012, the city’s high-school graduation rate has climbed 15 points, to 64 percent, according to New York State education department figures, the highest rate the city has achieved in more than a decade.

And black and Latino students have seen the most dramatic improvements, significantly narrowing the graduation gap with their white peers. According to Say Yes, it has awarded roughly 4,000 tuition scholarships, and the number of Buffalo schools classified as “in good standing” by the state’s education department has almost doubled since 2012, from 11 to 20.

The Say Yes promise of universal free college tuition to all Buffalo public-school graduates has grabbed public attention. But Say Yes also provides students with support specialists like Stubbe, access to medical and dental care, mental-health counseling, and legal clinics, plus after-school enrichment activities, college-readiness programs, and mentoring; it provides students’ parents with job-readiness workshops and referrals to housing services.

“This isn’t about a scholarship,” said Clotilde Dedecker, the president of the nonprofit Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo. “It’s about shifting a culture. We’re finally dealing with the systemic challenges to success ... instead of just the symptoms.”

Say Yes Buffalo is understandably drawing interest from school districts and local governments around the country, anxious to see if its success can be replicated.

Skeptics, however, question whether Say Yes-style interventions can succeed elsewhere, considering that its solutions not only are difficult to implement, but, at least in the short-term, also cost more than many communities are willing or able to spend. An argument could also be made that a confluence of positive factors and personalities in Buffalo put Say Yes at the center of a perfect storm of opportunity: Its arrival in Buffalo in 2012 coincided with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s creation of a $1 billion jobs and infrastructure investment project.

Say Yes launched its Buffalo chapter by bringing in $15 million in seed funding to create the tuition scholarship fund. But, with an eye toward local accountability and sustainability, the program demanded that the bulk of the heavy lifting, both financial and strategic, be done through a collaboration among city and education officials, community organizations, civic groups, and local philanthropy.

It was this demand for cooperation, local officials say, that created Say Yes’s key benefit: The newfound ability of key players from the mayor’s office, school district, teachers union, parent groups, business community, and higher-education institutions to work closely together toward the common goal of increasing post-secondary education for Buffalo’s students. This partnership-oriented approach is difficult work, participants acknowledge, but they say it is precisely what makes Say Yes both a sustainable model and one that addresses the holistic needs of an under-resourced community.

Although Say Yes’s allure of free college tuition was immediately obvious in a city where 54 percent of children live in poverty, many initially viewed the program with skepticism. Dedecker, who was instrumental in bringing the program to Buffalo, recalled low expectations at the outset from almost everyone.