NYT Magazine: A free ride to college

Attention for Kalamazoo’s unique educational opportunities continues, this time with notice from New York Times Magazine.

They talked to many people across the community including Janice M. Brown, superintendent when The Kalamazoo Promise was announced and now administrator of the program that is called an important social experiment.

Excerpt: From the very beginning, Brown, the only person in town who communicates directly with the Promise donors, has suggested that the program is supposed to do more than just pay college bills. It’s primarily meant to boost Kalamazoo’s economy. The few restrictions — among them, children must reside in the Kalamazoo public-school district and graduate from one of its high schools — seem designed to encourage families to stay and work in the region for a long time. The program tests how place-based development might work when education is the first investment.

For more, please read the rest of the story.

Source: New York Times Magazine