The Effects of the Kalamazoo Promise on College Choice

for providing access to the unit record data. We thank the Upjohn Institute for providing details about the administration of the the Kalamazoo Promise program. The paper has benefitted greatly from the comments of Introduction To the surprise of the residents of Kalamazoo, Michigan, the Kalamazoo Promise was announced on November 10, 2005. Fully funded by anonymous donors, the Kalamazoo Promise offers to pay both the tuition and mandatory fees of graduates of Kalamazoo public high schools at any public college or university located in Michigan. To be eligible for the scholarship program students must graduate from a Kalamazoo public high school, reside in the school district, and have been enrolled in the Kalamazoo Public School (KPS) district for four years or more. Enrollment and residency must be continuous to be eligible for the financial support. Students must gain admission to and enroll in a public State of Michigan community college, or four-year college or university. They must make regular progress toward a degree or certification and maintain a 2.0 grade point average at their postsecondary institution. Students must complete a minimum of 12 credit hours per semester, and if their cumulative grade point average drops below 2.0, they lose the funding, but it may be reinstated if the student is able to bring her grade point average up to at least a 2.0. However, the Kalamazoo Promise (henceforth, The Promise) is more than just a college scholarship program. It is a multi-faceted approach, one component of which is the tuition support for KPS high school graduates. The Promise is intended to spur urban renewal by attracting new residents who are interested in having their children's college subsidized; the scholarship program component is designed to offer the KPS graduates the opportunity to attend college and hopefully return to work and live in Kalamazoo. The Kalamazoo Promise represents a substantial philanthropic investment in the citizens of Kalamazoo and it is designed to continue indefinitely. The urban development aspects of the program are interesting. However, examining the potential of The Promise as a catalyst for development is not the primary focus of this paper. Herein, we focus on the effect of the scholarship on college access. The unexpected announcement of The Promise, the significant size of the subsidy, and the short time between the announcement of the program and its implementation presents an opportunity to identify the causal effects of the program …