Kalamazoo learns even free tuition isn’t enough to get kids into college

• For 20 years, Kalamazoo Public Schools has offered its graduates four years of free college
• But free tuition only goes so far — high school graduation rates lag the state average
• While college enrollment rates exceed the state average, Kalamazoo officials say more targeted supports are needed

Sayani Jones will pay nothing to study finance at Grand Valley State University, thanks to the Kalamazoo Promise, an anonymously funded scholarship program that offers up to four free years of college to every graduate of the city’s public schools.

“I have a great opportunity,” said Jones, 17, who recently graduated from Loy Norrix High in Kalamazoo. 

“Just to know that I can worry more about the studies and about my career plan and actually doing college rather than having to focus on being able to pay for it, I think it just clears my mind.”

Not all his peers necessarily agree — or graduate on time.

Twenty years after the Kalamazoo Promise debuted — and inspired 24 similar programs statewide — school officials conclude it takes more than just free tuition to inspire students to thrive.

Nearly 2 of 3 Kalamazoo students attend college, compared to about half statewide. But the city’s high school graduation rates lag the statewide averages, especially for students of color. 

School officials and researchers say they’re realizing they need a holistic approach to improve outcomes, including setting high expectations for both students and teachers, added support for students falling behind and mentor programs.

That could be an important lesson for the state, which has pumped $133 million into its Michigan Achievement Scholarship aimed at increasing college enrollment rates that have fallen since the pandemic. 

Free tuition is “not a panacea,” said Brad Hershbein, senior economist and deputy director of research at the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, which is studying the Kalamazoo Promise. 

“Saying that college is free is really like putting a Band-Aid on it. The challenges run much deeper than that,” Hershbein said.

‘They don’t see the benefit’

The Kalamazoo Promise found early success: Sixty percent of its Class of 2006 — the first eligible for the scholarship — has some sort of postsecondary certification, according to data tracked by the Upjohn Institute.

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That fell to 44% by the Class of 2015. Students have up to 10 years after high school to use the scholarship, which can pay for tuition, books and fees for a trade school, community college, or university. It is a first-dollar scholarship that allows students to obtain additional grants and scholarships to cover housing and other costs.

“It’s sad that students are not taking advantage of that resource,” said Darrin Slade, who became Kalamazoo Public Schools’ superintendent in 2023. 

“A lot of our students don’t get out of their community. They don’t leave the city. They don’t see the benefit of a free college degree that will change their life forever.”

That benefit is real. The National Center for Education Statistics said those with a bachelor’s degree earn 59% more than those with a high school diploma only, and the earnings climb the further you go in school. 

That’s why Gov. Gretchen Whitmer aims to have 60% of Michiganders with a college degree or skills certificate by 2030. Currently, about 52% of Michiganders are credentialed, 34th among the 50 states. 

Whitmer and the Legislature have created new statewide scholarship programs that drastically reduce the cost of college for most Michigan students.

But that effort has seen headwinds. 

Too many adults and the media now tell kids college is too expensive, burdens you with debt, and has a low return on investment, said Ryan Fewins-Bliss, executive director of the Michigan College Access Network, when the data shows postsecondary education is a sound investment leading to better wages.

As well, the Kalamazoo Promise and similar scholarship programs have taught leaders that “the barrier we thought was the major barrier — and that is money — is just one barrier,” Fewins-Bliss said. 

Other barriers include transportation, food insecurity and more and schools have to provide wraparound services to help students get to college and stay in college. 

‘It’s no magic’

Often, the biggest obstacle students face is their own family, said Niambi McMillon, a teacher at Kalamazoo’s Loy Norrix High. Students may have responsibilities at home that distract them from school work. If no one in their family has a college degree, students may not see themselves getting one, either. Some families even mock students’ aspirations, telling kids trying to succeed that they think they’re better than their families.

“They may have the academic skills, but that family, village support, if they don’t have that, it’s more difficult,” McMillon said.

Slade took over a district that had big disparities in outcomes: At the time, 56% of Black students and 67% of Hispanic ones graduated on time, compared to 79% of white students.

Statewide, 83% of students graduated on time.

Slade said he changed expectations for student and staff behavior throughout the district: Zero tolerance for students sleeping in class, playing on their phones or skipping school. If a class seems to be lagging, the teacher gets a talking to. Principals are expected to monitor their students and their teachers’ performance. Everyone’s focused on getting kids their diplomas on time.

“It’s no magic,” Slade said. “If you make it a focus and hold people accountable, you’ll see change.”

Leaders of the Kalamazoo Promise recognized they needed to do more than hand out money, too, said Von Washington Jr., CEO of the program. 

Over the last 20 years, the program has grown from one administrator to a team of 30, including promise pathway coaches who work with high schoolers to develop post-high school plans, tutors who help students with their school work, and other staffers who help high schoolers and high school graduates with everything from transportation to child care.
Three years ago, the program launched Males of Promise, a mentorship program for young men, who have historically lagged their female peers in academic performance. Most of the 150 young men in the program are young men of color, Washington said.  

Michelle Miller-Adams, senior researcher at the Upjohn Institute, said Kalamazoo schools have the freedom to focus on such things because the Kalamazoo Promise has helped stabilize enrollment as families move to the district for free college. While other urban districts bleed students and the state money attached to them, Kalamazoo has been able to keep kids and stay financially healthy.

The district has also stayed ethnically and socioeconomically diverse while other urban districts have lost wealthier students.

“That’s definitely working, and that has been transformative for the district,” Miller-Adams said.

Through Slade’s work and that of his partners at the Kalamazoo Promise, the on-time high school graduation rates increased last school year to 68% for Black students, 74% for Hispanic ones and 85% for white students.

Young Black men led the way in graduation gains, jumping from 47% in 2023 to 67% in 2024, a 20-point hike.

In two school years, Slade and his team brought the overall graduation rate for all Kalamazoo students up to 75% last school year from about 66% the year before.

“The graduation rate’s still too low,” said Slade, who in May earned a regional Superintendent of the Year accolade from the Michigan Association of School Administrators. 

“Sixty-seven percent is great, but I’d like to go to 90.”