Butte College's free tuition offer for 2018 jump-started by Sierra Nevada founders' donation

Sierra Nevada Brewing offers a variety of daily themed tours at its headquarters in Chico. Sierra Nevada Brewing offers a variety of daily themed tours at its headquarters in Chico. Photo: Sierra Nevada Brewing Photo: Sierra Nevada Brewing Image 1 of / 4 Caption Close Butte College's free tuition offer for 2018 jump-started by Sierra Nevada founders' donation 1 / 4 Back to Gallery

Butte College in Chico has announced a new program beginning at the school in Fall 2018 allowing first-time, full-time students to go to their community college for free for two semesters.

The new program, called The Butte College Promise Scholarship Program, is being funded by a mix of private and public funds, but was just "jump-started" by a substantial donation from Ken Grossman, the founder of Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, and his wife Katie Gonser. Both Grossman and Gonser, as well as their children, attended Butte.

To qualify for the program, first-time students who are California residents need to apply for financial aid, register for 12 units or more, and maintain a 2.0 average.

"Thanks to the generosity of the Grossman Family, more students will be able learn a trade, complete a career program or transfer to the university," said Samia Yaqub, Butte College President, in a press release. "This donation helps remove financial barriers for students as they pursue their educational dreams."

The college hopes to raise $2.7 million for the program, and then expand it to cover tuition for two years and mitigate the burden of high book costs for students.

"The Promise Program helps open the door wider to students so they can opt to learn a trade, enroll in a career program, or take general education classes," Grossman said in a statement. "We believe this will encourage more students to attend community college and ultimately contribute to our workforce and economy."

This is not the first donation of its kind for Grossman and Gonser. In 2016, the pair donated $2 million to the famed brewing science program at UC Davis run by renowned beer professor Charlie Bamforth.

Alyssa Pereira is an SFGATE staff writer. Email her at apereira@sfchronicle.com or find her on Twitter at @alyspereira.

