The Promise
Wednesday, 11 June 2014 02:25![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dr_phil_physicsSome eight years ago, a group of anonymous donors -- rich guys -- in Kalamazoo MI created the Kalamazoo Promise. Stay in the Kalamazoo Public Schools and graduate, they said, and they would pay the tuition at any state college in Michigan, from 65% to 100%, based on years in the KPS system.
Of course you still have to get into college, but the students have graduated and the Kalamazoo Promise had paid.
So if this all about the state schools, why am I flying the Hope College LJ icon on this entry? Because after eight years, they've decided to up the ante and offer tuition moneys for some of Michigan's great private colleges. Hope. Calvin. Kalamazoo. And others.
This has been a tremendous program for the city of Kalamazoo. The donors have made it clear they want to have a community and a workforce that is educated and probably incentivized to give back to the community. No, there are no strings attached, and yet the program is working. If you are a KPS graduate, money is not a barrier to going to college -- and it makes a difference in the students. Especially after eight years, it is no empty promise. The students can see that it works.
A few other places have even tried something similar.
But it started here. It is something that Kalamazoo can be very proud of.
Dr. Phil
Of course you still have to get into college, but the students have graduated and the Kalamazoo Promise had paid.
So if this all about the state schools, why am I flying the Hope College LJ icon on this entry? Because after eight years, they've decided to up the ante and offer tuition moneys for some of Michigan's great private colleges. Hope. Calvin. Kalamazoo. And others.
This has been a tremendous program for the city of Kalamazoo. The donors have made it clear they want to have a community and a workforce that is educated and probably incentivized to give back to the community. No, there are no strings attached, and yet the program is working. If you are a KPS graduate, money is not a barrier to going to college -- and it makes a difference in the students. Especially after eight years, it is no empty promise. The students can see that it works.
A few other places have even tried something similar.
But it started here. It is something that Kalamazoo can be very proud of.
Dr. Phil
