We all know the cost of a traditional four year college education is mind-numbing with the average cost reaching almost $100,000 for a Bachelor's Degree... never mind a Master's or a Doctorate. For the lucky few who graduate at the top of their class, scholarships can pay for most if not all of that cost, but for others, student loans offer the only viable alternative... that is unless you happen to go to high school in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Thanks to a mysterious group of anonymous donors every student who graduates from either of Kalamazoo's high schools and attends a public university in the state of Michigan receives a free college education. The "Promise Scholarship" offers students of all income and academic standings the same deal... graduate high school and stay in-state and you get a free ride!! The reasoning behind this tuition jackpot is that the group of donors feel that the best financial investment in a community is in the education of its young people. According the superintendent of Kalamazoo while other cities are investing in businesses and giving tax breaks to the wealthy, Kalamazoo believes that the value of an educated society far exceeds anything a simple tax break can provide.
Nicolle P.3
9/18/2012 08:40:54 am
The fact that there are people out there who are changing their views on how we should spend money to better the country is great itself! The youth of the country is what determines the future. In order to imporve the future we need to invest in students so that we are well educated to keep up what past leaders have brought this country to.
Cara Period 3
9/18/2012 10:13:27 am
I think that it is great that people are willing to donate money to random strangers so they can get through school without beinbg in major debt like the rest of the country. Like nicolle said, it is great that people are changing their views on money to better the country. I really wish we had this kind of system in RI. I would love to go to college for free and im sure my fellow students would love to also. Not to mention, our parents would literally jump for joy!
Danika Wayss Period 6
9/19/2012 02:23:37 am
I think it is above and beyond generous what the anonyms donors are doing. Because of the action they have taken every one of them is doing something that will be effective in making the community better. By offering every student who graduates and goes to college in the state a "free ride" they are not only finacially helping all the families in their state who are stuggling to get their children through college but they are also encouraging students to get through high school and not drop out.
Claudi DeMelo
9/19/2012 02:43:22 am
It's really nice of these donors to do this. There are really smart kids who would love to go to college but can't because their family doesn't have enough to pay for it. This program is great and really generous
Makenzie Driscoll Period 4
9/19/2012 04:58:10 am
I told my mom about this and she looked at me like i had 10 heads, then i explained it and she said i should move there... i think it is really cool that people do this. to bad we dont have anything like this in RI. my parents would love that they would have to pay for my sister and I to better our education.
Alexis Lavallee period 5
9/19/2012 08:40:57 am
I completely agree that one of the smartest investments a community can make is it's education. Without being able to pay for college, how is our generation supposed to become educated and get a sturdy job? I think these mystery donors have made a very smart and generous action...maybe I'll move to Kalamazoo!
Jonathan Provencal Period 4
9/19/2012 10:09:08 am
I'm glad that care so much about a person's education that they would pay for it even though they don't know the person. I told my father this and he seemed really surprised. I just wish I didn't have to move to get this opportunity.
Gabrielle Demers period 5
9/19/2012 11:34:17 am
When reading this i thought it was an amazing i think the investment of the people paying for it is defiantly paying off! If that was going on in Cranston i would probably move their so i bet this is working well! I wonder though if you have to attend high school there all 4 yours because i feel like if not people would move their just for their senior year! Overall though this idea is great and the people of that city are hopefully very thankful for theses givers!
Jesse per3
9/19/2012 11:21:11 pm
I don't know why college has to be so expensive. I think its just one big scam because elementary school is free, middle school is free, highschool is free... then they jack up the price for college to thousands of dollars. They should just have public colleges that are free too. Maybe they wouldn't be as good but lots of intelligent people can't afford college and then they don't make a lot of money and then their kids can't go to college either and it just goes in a big circle.
Nick Yehle (per. 4)
9/20/2012 01:43:19 am
i dont thik this is right! all other kids have to pay thousands of dollars to go to collage and these other kids dont. I dont like this idea.
Travis period 6
9/20/2012 04:38:51 am
I don't think this is a good idea at all. Some kids might not take the education seriously and fail. Other kids might drop out of college for one reason or another. Collage shouldn't cost money anyways. Smart people can get bad jobs because they don't have a collage education
Andrea Henninger period 5
9/20/2012 05:45:52 am
In a way I think that this is a great idea, but in a way I do not think that this is a good idea. This is a good idea, because it allows for all kids to go to college, without having to worry about how they will pay for it, and most likely this will get more kids interested in going. However, this is not a good idea becasue now famlies from neighboring cities will most likely decide to move into Kalamazoo, which will most likely end up costing this donor way too much money, to keep this program going.
Matt Carney
9/20/2012 06:28:33 am
I think this is a really nice thing to be doing. They are trying to make their community a better place by having better educated people. This could allow kids who werent able to afford college have a chance to do what they want to do.
Alyssa Ford Period 5
9/20/2012 07:20:50 am
The fact that there is a group of people who believe so strongly in something that they will donate enough money to cover college for a whole town is amazing! I think it was a very smart investment and decision on the donors' part. They are right when they say the youth's education is one of the most important things because eventually the youth will become the old and be the ones in charge! I think this will really benefit the Kalamazoo community for the future.; 9/20/2012 10:01:19 am
This is a very smart idea. You want kids to get a college education because it will help them most likely get better careers. For some college is almost impossible to pay for, and the Kalamazoo students will benefit from it. It's great that the donors are taking matters into their hands and trying to help out students.
Christian Gamez Period 5
9/20/2012 11:46:42 am
The whole concept is amazing! Education is highly stressed on high school graduates but it is so costly that many do know which way to turn. The fact that mysterious donors are willing to pay for these students to go to collage for free as long as they stay in the state is brilliant. The Promise Scholarship most likely insures that many graduates from this town are to higher their education and proceed to collage.
Victoria Curley period 5
9/20/2012 11:54:18 am
This idea has so many amazing aspect to it along with some negative ones too! This encourages more students there to graduate and for more students to move there. This increases the economy in that specific area too! The negative I see though, is the economy in the close cities surrounding the area, because suddenly one city is going to be over populated and other are going to be under populated which would in a short time dramatically affect many places.
Darren Grant Period 6
9/20/2012 11:56:03 am
Good for Kalamazoo, Michigan. I dont know why people feel like it is unfair, they have worked for the great opportunity to attend college for free. I've been raised in a family where education comes first, no matter what. For the people out in Kalamazoo, congradulations. For the kids in Mr. X's class, try to set up a organization or something for our community to experience the same educational opportunity.
Alex Bowden Peiod 6
9/20/2012 12:12:27 pm
I would love a free college. So many people would do this and it would give us a good education.
Mackenzie Egan period 6
9/22/2012 04:57:34 am
I think it's really sweet and heartfelt that strangers donate to help these kids get a free college education. I know people find it unfair, but i don't. Because think about it, if every student who graduated Pilgrim got to go to an in-state college for free, would you think it's unfair then? of course not! So we should give them a hand and look up to them, and maybe try to do the same thing. In my opinion.
Jacob McNamara P1
9/22/2012 05:49:16 am
If only doners here in warwick r i were nice enough to donate to the youths here...my school career would be a lot easier if rhoad islanders were as kind enough as to donate money.
Daniel Peladeau
9/23/2012 01:11:20 am
I believe that this is very helpful to the students in Kalamazoo, Michingan. Getting a free ride to college can be very important to people that are coming out of college with a low-paying job. It would take them years to pay off their student debts and would just make life harder for them. If you don't have to pay for college, you don't have to pay off debt. This means they can save their money for future use instead of barely surviving on their income every week. The donors in Kalamazoo, Michigan have greatly improved the lives of many students in the future.
Daniel Peladeau
9/23/2012 01:12:09 am
Sorry Mr. X, I am from Period 6!
Sam Malm period 1
9/23/2012 03:35:05 am
I think that will encourage kids to actually graduate because they know that they can go to college for free. Some students may drop out due to colleges being expensive.
Erica Period 3
9/23/2012 10:38:57 am
This is such an amazing idea, If only Rhode Island did this too! That is a very smart investment on their states part. College has become such a difficult expense for so many people and if the state were to invest in a high education for its residence so mnay people would take them up on that offer. I for one know that when it comes to college I want to just get out of this state, but if I had the opportunity to go to college for free if i remained instate, that is exactly what I would do. The students going off to college and who are in college are the future of our state and country, and they are what the government should be investing in.
Nathan h period 4
9/24/2012 12:50:09 am
I think that this is good because this is a possible way of making our economy and people better.
Tiana DIckenson Per. 4
9/29/2012 09:30:00 am
This is great for the people who can't afford college. and the people who graduate just barley...dorry but good luck in college. I mean its great they get to go for free but good luck
ryan grundy period 4
9/29/2012 11:07:08 am
this is a great idea for people that cant aford college but also a bad idea because your gonna have those kids that go to college just for partys and other stupid things.
Devon per 6
9/29/2012 01:44:39 pm
Why hasn't anyone thought of this sooner? This idea is brilliant! Its so simple, free college equals more college graduates which equals more jobs which equals a better economy. But it most cost the donors a fortune. Even if its a small high school with say 150 graduates every year thats still 15,000,000 dollars to send each of them to a 4 year college
Dylan Pontes period 6
9/29/2012 02:16:02 pm
I think it is a great idea and it is great to invest in the future of America. These kids are getting a great opportunity to learn and be able to get great jobs in a tough economy where having a college education really helps to find a good job.
Casey White
9/30/2012 06:49:15 am
i feel that what the donors did was a very good deed. They helped out a lot of kids that may have not been able to afford the cost of college.I also feel that its good because by giving the kids of kalamazoo a college education really enables them to graduate, get a job and help our country keep going on what our past leaders made for us.
Jessica Pope
10/1/2012 09:22:33 am
This is a great idea!!! I think that it is very generous of these people to donate money towards kids college in this town. It really helps out people who might not have enough money to go to college. It is also a great way to get more people into the workforce and have them make more money. This will also result in a better economy. I want to move to Kalamazoo! Comments are closed.
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