If Cain Sandoval hadn’t earned a full-tuition scholarship through the Kalamazoo Promise, he likely would’ve debated whether attending college was worth the financial burden.
Sandoval, a senior studying digital media and journalism at Western Michigan University, has been in the Kalamazoo Public School District his entire life. From a young age, he knew that his college tuition would be paid for.
“[The Kalamazoo Promise] solidified the fact that I was gonna go to college,” Sandoval says. “There wasn’t really a doubt in my mind.”
Since 2005, the Kalamazoo Promise has offered students free college tuition if they’ve been enrolled in Kalamazoo public schools from kindergarten through 12th grade. Students who’ve been in the school district for less time also receive a partial scholarship, as long as they complete all of high school in a Kalamazoo public school.
The program is a lodestar in Kalamazoo, a city of 73,000 about two hours west of Detroit, where 38 percent of families lack enough income to cover basic household expenses. Kalamazoo Promise also is a model for hundreds of other programs aimed at making college more affordable.
But while some of the programs formed in the Kalamazoo mold are struggling, the Michigan city’s promise remains strong. Kalamazoo Promise staff and scholars credit its success to the program’s long-term donor base as well as its unique structure, which gives students access to the scholarship for up to 10 years after they graduate from high school.
For many, in the absence of a promise program, they think college is just totally unattainable.
— Von Washington Jr., chief executive officer of the Kalamazoo Promise program.
The eligibility window offers students the flexibility to choose when they want to start college, says Von Washington Jr., the chief executive officer of the Kalamazoo Promise. While some may be able to start right after graduating, others may choose to wait until they’re more mature or financially stable, for instance. It’s one of the ways Washington says promise programs show students the value of going to college.
“For many, in the absence of a promise program, in the absence of a scholarship, they think [college is] just totally not attainable,” Washington says. “Promise programs continue to put a beacon out there and say, ‘this is attainable and these barriers can be removed.’”
Free-college advocates point out that as higher education becomes more expensive, promise initiatives like Kalamazoo’s encourage students to attend college, earn degrees and enter the workforce. With the Trump administration’s budget cuts and opposition to student loan forgiveness, these programs are among the few ways that attending college can still be made affordable, they say.
Kalamazoo’s Ongoing Success
The growing popularity of the Kalamazoo Promise shows the apparent need for such programs. Kalamazoo Promise was one of the first programs of its kind when it opened 20 years ago. During its first year, 341 students used the scholarship within 12 months of graduation. Last year, that number reached 431 students.
Michelle Miller-Adams, a senior researcher at the Upjohn Institute, which studies promise programs across the country, calls Kalamazoo’s a free-college program “on steroids.” Its base of anonymous donors has committed to the program in perpetuity, allowing it to grow as the school district grows.
The funding also helps the program maintain its first-dollar plan, which means Kalamazoo school district students receive a Promise scholarship regardless of other financial aid they might get, Washington says. Many other programs across the country use a last-dollar approach, covering tuition only after other aid, such as Pell grants, have been applied.
A first-dollar system helps students stay in college, says Peter Granville, a policy fellow focused on college affordability at the Century Foundation. Financial burdens often are the largest barriers to finishing college, he says, but if students are able to use additional aid to cover other living expenses, they’ll be more likely to earn their degree.
Beyond money, free-college programs should fulfill a lifetime promise of teaching students the value of higher education and how to find a job once they’ve graduated.
“Unless you are helping [students understand what college is worth] and figure out what they want to study and how it relates to their interest, get to the right post-secondary pathway, get through the post-secondary institution and connect on the other end to a good job,” Miller-Adams says, a promise program that only pays tuition isn’t doing as much for its students as it could to help them to earn a degree.
The Kalamazoo Promise offers support while students are applying to college and resources once they’re there. Staff at each high school in the city help students understand their scholarship and encourage them to apply to college, Washington says.
Kalamazoo’s scholarship applies to 60 colleges in the state, both public and private institutions as well as trade programs and apprenticeships. Promise representatives are at Western Michigan and Kalamazoo Valley Community College, two of the most popular options, to provide additional support to students, Washington says.
As a first-generation student, Sandoval relied on the Kalamazoo Promise to help him navigate college. He belongs to a Promise scholars student organization at Western Michigan where he enjoys a sense of community with fellow scholarship recipients and learns about other campus resources.
Sandoval has landed two internships through Higher Promise, a Kalamazoo Promise program that connects Promise scholars with local businesses. He worked at a local media marketing agency and is now a media production intern at the Kalamazoo Promise.
The Future of Free College
Hundreds of free-college programs exist in states and cities across the country, each with varying structures and rules. Often, they are focused on addressing a specific need in the community, Miller-Adams says.
You never hear about states hating their promise programs. But programs become vulnerable whenever big holes are opened in state budgets.
— Peter Granville, Century Foundation
Some only require students to be in the local school system; others call for specific grade-point averages, a certain amount of community service hours, or that students meet established attendance levels. In some areas, the programs pay only for community colleges or award scholarships to students who enter under-staffed fields.
Some free-college programs, especially at the state level, are struggling financially, says Granville of the Century Foundation. Maine lawmakers, for instance, cut the state’s free community college program in June after only three years due to budget constraints.
As cuts to federal funding impact state budgets, free-college programs could be the first to go, Granville adds. “You never hear about states hating their promise programs,” he says, “But programs become vulnerable whenever any big holes are opened in state budgets.”
Local programs are often privately funded, but they can struggle too, especially as college becomes more expensive, Miller-Adams says.
Both state and local programs, including Kalamazoo’s, aren’t immune to consistent enrollment declines on college campuses. In its first year, 86 percent of Kalamazoo Promise scholars entered college the fall after completing high school. Since then, that number has dropped to 63 percent.
The decline is the result of a rollercoaster economy, from the relatively strong period during the 2010s followed by the pandemic. Recently, there have been more debates about the value of college itself. The decrease was among mainly lower income students, who may have needed to get a job to earn money for their families, for instance, Miller-Adams says.
Despite the overall decline, state promise programs continue to encourage enrollment in community colleges and vocational education, which in turn helps to expand the workforce. For this reason, promise programs enjoy rare bipartisan support.
“These programs are basically going to generate workers pretty quickly with degrees or credentials that the businesses themselves do not have to pay to train,” Miller-Adams says. “That’s why you see these programs not just in blue states, but red states as well.”
In the future, Washington in Kalamazoo hopes to continue expanding access to free college tuition. That means reaching more students before they get to college, connecting with people who haven’t taken advantage of the scholarship yet, and sharing knowledge with other promise programs so they can thrive as well.
“The biggest hope is that literally everybody who has the opportunity takes advantage of it,” he says.