NEWTON – City officials hope a proposal to offer free college tuition to Newton High School graduates will bring more families to town.

The program, called “Newton Promise,” would pay the entire cost of tuition for four years for a Newton graduate who attends one of the state’s three public universities or 15 community colleges. Room and board would not be paid.

The Newton Development Corporation presented the plan to the city council last week, offering it as an economic development tool to jump-start growth in the city of 15,000, about 20 miles east of Des Moines.

“It’s a phenomenal plan,” councilwoman Jean Morgan said.

The city had just eight single-family homes built in 2005, the same as in 2004, and with the uncertain future of Maytag Corp., economic development has become even more important, corporation officials said.

They said the program, modeled after one in Kalamazoo, Mich., could help bring new families to Newton, and retain current families.

“It’s a true investment in the future of the community, and there’s no better way to do that than investing in our children,” said Kim Didier, the coporation’s executive director.

La Rae Gipe, 16, a Newton junior, said the plan is a “good idea.”

“With the financial problems our town has [had] since Maytag, it will help get people in college if they can’t afford it,” Gipe said.

Possible funding includes a mix of public and private money, including a proposed local option sales tax, the Jasper County Foundation, which would help raise private funds, and matching money from state development grants.

Didier said that while most Iowa communities offer economic development incentives, few can pay college tuition for workers’ children.