Opinion
College & Workforce Readiness Opinion

A Powerful Promise

By Jennifer M. Granholm & Chuck Wilbur — June 09, 2010 4 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

When President Barack Obama delivered the commencement address at Kalamazoo Central High School on June 7, he saw both a school and a community dedicated to providing all their children with the opportunity to earn college degrees. But he also witnessed the power of a promise that has the potential to reshape American education.

First announced in 2005, the Kalamazoo Promise made a simple and clear commitment to the young people of that West Michigan community—graduates of the public schools would be able to earn college degrees tuition-free in perpetuity. The anonymous donors who created the program wanted to see more Kalamazoo kids go to college, but their real goal was something larger. They wanted this unprecedented commitment to universal college education to power the economic transformation of their urban community.

Unless children, their parents, their teachers, and others in their community believe they are college-bound from the first days of their educational experience, the odds that they will find success in college and in life are greatly diminished.

Today, the positive results that have flowed from the promise are undeniable. Enrollment in the Kalamazoo public schools surged after decades of decline. More students have stayed in school, and far more are going to college. Record numbers of students and parents are turning out for college nights—some of them in elementary schools. The promise also has given impetus to school improvement efforts at all grade levels. Central High School, for example, has already increased the number of students taking advanced-placement courses by over 200 percent. And this spring, across Michigan, Kalamazoo students who were high school seniors when the promise program began are now celebrating their college graduations.

Kalamazoo has also weathered far better than other urban areas in the state the “perfect storm” that has battered our manufacturing economy. We’ve seen major new investments in the life sciences and other knowledge-based sectors in the area. Kalamazoo County’s unemployment rate is among the lowest in the state, over 3 percentage points below the Michigan average. At a time of great economic uncertainty in the industrial Midwest, Kalamazoo is a community taking charge of its own economic destiny through universal higher education.

The power of the Kalamazoo Promise stems from its clarity and simplicity. There are only a few common-sense rules to follow and no complicated forms to fill out. While most high school seniors or their parents struggle to navigate the intricacies of the college financial-aid process, the promise program can be readily understood by 2nd graders and their parents.

This difference could not be more critical. The promise program has the potential to envelop a community’s children in a culture of learning—a set of expectations and aspirations that most affluent children grow up with as a matter of course. Unless children, their parents, their teachers, and others in their community believe they are college-bound from the first days of their educational experience, the odds that they will find success in college and in life are greatly diminished.

The power of the Kalamazoo Promise stems from its clarity and simplicity.

The promise program is also powerful because it has a universal message—college education for all—and it makes sure that includes low- and moderate-income children. Because it is not limited to the poor, the promise can help retain middle-class families that successful cities need. The strongest regional economies in the nation are anchored by core cities that have higher levels of educational attainment than the suburbs surrounding them. To replicate that success, we need policies that help today’s urban residents achieve higher levels of education while attracting families who want to be part of a community committed to higher education for all.

Kalamazoo put the concept of the universal place-based scholarship on the map, but it is an idea that is not content to stay in one place. The Arkansas-based Murphy Oil Co. gave $50 million to fund the El Dorado Promise. A $100 million commitment from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center is making the Pittsburgh Promise possible. But not all of the promise programs sprouting up around the country are relying on the generosity of a few major donors.

Last year, Michigan designated “Promise Zones” in 10 high-poverty communities where a tax-capture mechanism will be used in conjunction with private donations and need-based financial aid to fund local promise programs. Over the next few years, in Michigan, a Battle Creek Promise, a Saginaw Promise, a Detroit Promise, and others will create universal scholarship programs that can be powerful tools for rebuilding local communities.

All of us should be thankful to the donors who made the Kalamazoo Promise and similar programs possible. But when it comes to achieving President Obama’s educational-attainment goals for the nation and reviving distressed communities, we cannot afford to depend on the private sector alone. We need to fashion creative public-private partnerships that can help hard-hit communities across the nation make the difficult transition to the knowledge economy.

Community by community, the example of the Kalamazoo Promise is changing the way we look at educational attainment and its relationship to economic development, particularly in our nation’s struggling cities. The students of Kalamazoo Central High School may have said it best in the essay that won President Obama’s visit: “We no longer merely hope for a future; we are confident that we are the future.”

A version of this article appeared in the June 16, 2010 edition of Education Week as A Powerful Promise

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Reading & Literacy Webinar
The Future of the Science of Reading
Join us for a discussion on the future of the Science of Reading and how to support every student’s path to literacy.
Content provided by HMH
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
College & Workforce Readiness Webinar
From Classrooms to Careers: How Schools and Districts Can Prepare Students for a Changing Workforce
Real careers start in school. Learn how Alton High built student-centered, job-aligned pathways.
Content provided by TNTP
Student Well-Being Live Online Discussion A Seat at the Table: The Power of Emotion Regulation to Drive K-12 Academic Performance and Wellbeing
Wish you could handle emotions better? Learn practical strategies with researcher Marc Brackett and host Peter DeWitt.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

College & Workforce Readiness How One School Turned Career Training Into a Turnaround Strategy
This high school was once slated for state takeover. Career pathways helped turn it around.
9 min read
Principal Pierre Orbe interacts with students during summer internship programs at DeWitt Clinton High School on July 14, 2025 in New York City.
Principal Pierre Orbe interacts with students during summer internship programs at DeWitt Clinton High School on July 14, 2025, in New York City. The school prioritizes career pathways, which have helped boost the graduation and attendance rates.
Mostafa Bassim for Education Week
College & Workforce Readiness Most Teens—and Girls Especially—Say Finishing College Is Important, Poll Says
A majority of U.S. teenagers—70% of girls and 54% of boys—are prioritizing graduating from college.
3 min read
Ry-n Uyeda runs through a catching drill, Friday, July 11, 2025, in Waianae, Hawaii.
Ry-n Uyeda runs through a catching drill in Waianae, Hawaii. Uyeda hopes to play softball in college. A majority of teens say it's "extremely" or "very" important to them to complete college, despite concerns about rising tuition and student debt, and the politicization of many issues in higher education.
Mengshin Lin/AP
College & Workforce Readiness These High School Graduates Earned a Diploma—and a $74,000 Teaching Contract
This district's 'grow-your-own' program includes an extra incentive: a generous starting salary for graduates who come back to teach.
6 min read
Leonellys Rodriguez, a graduate of University High School in Newark, N.J., and recipient of a conditional teaching job offer from the Newark Public School District, poses with Principal Genique Flournoy-Hamilton on June 24, 2025.
Leonellys Rodriguez, a graduate of University High School in Newark, N.J., and recipient of a conditional teaching job offer from the Newark Public School District, poses with Principal Genique Flournoy-Hamilton on June 24, 2025. The district's grow-your-own, dual-enrollment partnership will bring high-achieving students back to the district as teachers.
Courtesy of Newark Public School District
College & Workforce Readiness AP Students Rate Their Favorite—and Least Favorite—Courses of 2025
Students taking AP exams for college credit can review their scores in July.
3 min read
Illustration of diverse students sitting on a stack of huge textbooks with one holding a pencil and smiling. There is a blue background with ghosted math equations swirling around.
iStock/Getty