College of the Desert unveiled a sweeping “Pledge for All” initiative that will provide free tuition and comprehensive support services to every enrolled student, marking what President Val Martinez Garcia called a historic expansion of access to higher education in the Coachella Valley.
The announcement, made during Thursday’s State of the College address at the Thompson Palm Springs, extends COD’s existing program beyond recent high school graduates to include all students regardless of age or educational background.
“Tonight, we make history,” Martinez Garcia said. “I’m proud to announce College of the Desert’s next bold step to open the door to anyone and everyone who wants to attend college.”
The Pledge for All program will cover tuition and fees through scholarships, grants and partnerships while providing expanded advising, mentoring, tutoring, mental health services and access to technology. The initiative will launch with a pilot cohort enrolling in spring 2026 for fall 2026 classes, then extend to additional cohorts until every student qualifies.
“We believe no student who wants to attend College of the Desert should ever be held back because of their financial strength,” Martinez Garcia said.
College of the Desert Superintendent/President Val Martinez Garcia discusses the future of the school at the state of the college address at the Thompson Palm Springs Thursday evening.
“More than 60 years ago, the California Master Plan for Higher Education declared that every student, regardless of income, would have a place in college,” Board Chair Joel Kinnamon said. “Today, community colleges like College of the Desert stand as the last stronghold of that dream.”
The college also announced a comprehensive AI education program supported by a $100,000 donation from Fred Noble of Wintec Energy.
“I hope that it will be the seed that will grow, and we will end up with a real jump start in this new world in which we live,” Noble said.
AI was discussed throughout the evening, including how the technology could be used in healthcare, hospitality and other fields tied to valley workforce needs. Martinez Garcia said the initiative positions COD to prepare students “not to just keep up with change, but to lead it.”
Though there is not yet a formal degree or certificate for AI at the college, eager students are already meeting in clubs and working on projects for school and for fun.
“This is who we are This is the spirit of the Coachella Valley, where access and human dignity and excellence are our core values.” — COD President Val Martinez Garcia
Johnny Sarrouf is working on a chatbot to help students navigate the complex course catalog that would recommend classes and simplify the process. Kimani Wood is an artist who uses AI to help her come up with ideas. Kevin Ayon is using AI to help him code an app that would track the prices of Pokémon cards.
“[AI] is a proof of concept, it’s really not a replacement for an artist or all the storyboarding that goes into [a project],” Ayon said.
Students also helped create “Val-atar” (think: a portmanteau of Val Martinez Garcia and the word “avatar”). The AI likeness of the president greeted attendees before the state of the college address.
Johnny Sarrouf explains the inner workings of the “Val-atar” AI likeness of COD Superintendent/President Val Martinez Garcia.
Mark Rizzo, computer information systems laboratory specialist for the college, said the college’s cybersecurity club meets every Friday.
“There’s probably like 30 of them, but they compete locally, statewide, and nationally for cyber competition, for hacking,” Rizzo said.
“In this industry, everything is always changing, we have to keep up with it, go to conferences, get the technology and play with it hands on and get feedback from the students, the public and college about what they need,” Rizzo said.
The announcements came as COD reported enrollment of nearly 14,800 students this fall, reflecting strong post-pandemic growth. The college is also moving forward with a $26 million automotive training facility in Cathedral City, set to open in late 2026. It also celebrated the groundbreaking of the long-awaited Palm Springs campus almost a year ago.
Kinnamon said the initiatives build on COD’s original pledge program, launched a decade ago to guarantee free college to valley high school graduates.
“This is who we are,” Martinez Garcia said. “This is the spirit of the Coachella Valley, where access and human dignity and excellence are our core values.”