Being a high school student about to enter college or the workforce is anxiety-inducing. Many seniors desperately cling to their last few months of high school as uncertainty and fear loom on the horizon. Now, these fears are only amplified by economic uncertainty, inflation, and a forecasted recession, leaving many young people to wonder how they will afford higher education and earn a living wage. 

Kalamazoo Public Schools students, however, have access to a unique opportunity: The Kalamazoo Promise. 

Introduced in 2005, the Kalamazoo Promise is a scholarship that covers up to all of tuition at any college or university in Michigan. It is awarded to all students who graduate from KPS and meet the basic requirements the Promise requires.

Since its announcement, the Promise has helped over 87 hundred students enrolled in Kalamazoo Public Schools go to college and has taken a huge financial burden off students’ and parents’ shoulders. 

Now, the promise offers KPS students confidence in their ability to attend college, as many other students around the country are struggling to afford college as higher education becomes more expensive. 

“I think finances are a huge barrier for people who don’t have the promise,” said  counselor Becky Parsons. “I see students benefit from it [the Promise] every year. Being able to go to college, where if they didn’t have the promise, they wouldn’t be able to afford going.”

For senior Olivia Hunter, the Promise was vital, allowing her to excel and break generational patterns. 

“The Promise made it so that I was able to go to college because I’m a first-generation college student, so I totally would not be able to afford going to college,” said Hunter. “I would just have to go to a community college and not a university.”

According to former LN student and Western Michigan University freshman Joshua Snyder, the Promise changed his life. Being a second-generation immigrant and from a background of poverty, it was a life-saver. 

“My mom is an immigrant from São Paulo, Brazil. She heard about Western Michigan University when she was still living in Brazil, and that’s when she decided that she wanted to move to Kalamazoo. Then she found out that the Kalamazoo Promise was a thing, and that has completely changed my life,” said Snyder. “My mom had to work two jobs since the age of thirteen to be able to pay for living, and if she wanted to go to Kalamazoo and get out of Brazil, she had to work three jobs. My mom grew up in poverty, and because of her hard work, she’s put me in a place where I don’t have to worry about money, and I’m very grateful for that.” 

For students who don’t have the Promise, college is becoming exponentially more expensive. 

According to Education Data Initiative, “the cost of tuition at public 4-year institutions increased 36.7% from 2010 to 2023 This has a real impact on students and their families. 

Portage Northern senior Diego Arias has dealt with the impact that higher education costs can bring. He plans on attending the University of Michigan next fall, a school that costs around $17 thousand a year for in-state tuition. Arias was put in a difficult situation when he didn’t receive the Go Blue Guarantee, a scholarship offered by the University of Michigan that guarantees free tuition to those who receive it. 

“I was very surprised when I found out how much money I’d have to pay for college because I thought I’d get the Go Blue Guarantee,” said Arias. “I was shocked. I thought they’d made a mistake somehow.” 

Snyder added that he has seen many of his peers from outside of Kalamazoo struggle to pay for college.

“I’ve met a few people that go to Western that are from out of state, and out of state tuition is a lot higher, so they’ve had to not only pay for out of state tuition but also room and board and a meal plan.They’ve told me the struggles of that,” said Snyder. “When I tell them about the Kalamazoo Promise, they look at me like I’m crazy. I get free tuition, and they have to pay so much.” 

With economic uncertainty brought on by tariffs and inflation and many economists predicting a recession, entering college and adult life can be scary. However, for many young people, entering the real world can also be exciting.

“I have some anxiety about entering college in a period of economic uncertainty, but it also feels kind of freeing because I get to explore a new area of the world,” said Arias. “But with Trump in office, everything is kinda iffy.” 

Parsons believes that while students’ options could be limited, economic factors are too uncertain to know how they will affect students in the future. 

“With the economic uncertainty that we’re in, I don’t necessarily know that anyone knows what’s going to happen,” said Parsons. “Previously, a lot of people probably would have relied on student loans, and I don’t necessarily see those going away, but maybe grant money could be going away. I think it’s just too soon into the uncertain economic times to know for sure.”

According to Education Data Initiative, undergraduate enrollment has been decreasing since its peak in 2010 at 18 million, down to 16 million in 2024. Additionally, national student loan debt has climbed from $86 million in 2010 to $1.77 trillion in 2024. Students have to find ways to manage the high price of college, or are forced to make the difficult decision to not attend college at all. However Parson believes that there are still options for these students. 

“I think different paths to college are making it attainable, especially with the Michigan achievement scholarship and everything that Governor Whitmer has done here to make sure all students can attend community college,” said Parsons. “I think the path just looks different.”

One major benefit of the Promise is that students don’t have to rely on different pathways to be able to afford college, and, unburdened by financial limitations, students have much more freedom of choice in what they study. 

“There are people who are like ‘well now I can do nursing’ or  ‘well now I can be a veterinarian, I could be a nurse’ instead of settling for something that they don’t want to do,” said Hunter. “I’ve experienced that because I was thinking about going into beauty school, but then I was like ‘well, I actually would want to do something more’ so I’m going into school for forensic chemistry.” 

The Kalamazoo Promise is a vital community resource, now more than ever. It allows students in Kalamazoo Public schools to get the most out of their high school and college experiences, without having to worry about finances. 

“I think something that isn’t talked about is how stress-free your life gets when you don’t have to worry about paying for tuition and paying for a bunch of stuff, and you can fully focus on your studies,” said Snyder. “I feel like that is the greatest thing I have benefited from. I think being able to live my college life without any financial stress is the greatest thing.”