As of 10 a.m. on June 10th, The Kalamazoo Promise is being expanded to 15 private liberal-art colleges within Michigan. Normally, The Kalamazoo Promise pays the tuition of public instate Universities, but starting with the class of 2015, these fifteen new colleges will be an option for graduates of KPS.
This is a huge deal for many students because often these colleges were not economically possible for certain families.
“It broadens the choices and provides more opportunities to reach out to a place students want to be,” said Principal Rodney Prewitt.
Because private tuition is significantly more expensive, the Kalamazoo promise partnered up with the Michigan College Alliance. The Kalamazoo Promise will pay as much as it would for a student to go to the University of Michigan, and the Private colleges will pay the difference.
A student who has gone through the KPS from kindergarten through twelfth grade now has the opportunity to attend a private college with the tuition paid for.
“This expansion will encourage me to look at other private colleges in Michigan, before I was only looking at K as a private college in Michigan because of the Heyel,” said Anna Emenheiser.
The colleges that are now part of this opportunity are:  Kalamazoo College, Adrian, Albion, Alma, Aquinas, Andrews, Calvin, Hope, Hillsdale, Madonna, Marygrove, Olivet, Siena Heights, Spring Arbor, and University of Detroit Mercy.
This will bring a wide range of opportunities for graduates of Kalamazoo Public Schools.