The Southwest Michigan region’s focus on being an education community can be largely attributed to the presence of the Kalamazoo Promise, and a wide array of educational institutions, specifically a public research university, a private liberal-arts college and a community college. The Promise is a program that covers at least 65 to 100 percent tuition to any public university or community college in Michigan for high-school graduates of the Kalamazoo public school system.

Since the implementation of the Kalamazoo Promise in November 2005, the program has started a chain reaction to reform education in the region, starting with the improvement of the K-12 system. Kalamazoo Public Schools (KPS) is revamping Kalamazoo County Head Start, a research-based curriculum that aligns with the KPS curriculum and state benchmarks. The program currently serves 635 low-income 3- to 4-year-olds.

A countywide standard for preschools will ensure that all children, regardless of economic background, will have the skills they need to start kindergarten. This in turn builds the foundation for the next level of education. More youth are now encouraged to stay in school and do well since they have a real chance of pursuing higher education. In 2007, 567 students graduated from KPS, a 10 percent increase from 515 in 2006. More than 360 of those students are currently using the Promise.

VISION:
The Greater Kalamazoo Community will become a world leader in education, investing in youth to elevate the quality of life for each resident.

MISSION:
The Kalamazoo Promise transforms the community and stimulates the economy through a new generation of learners.

Facts About The Promise

• In the fall of 2010, we will have over 1,000 students attending college through The Kalamazoo Promise
• That translates into more than $10,000,000 in scholarship dollars
• Kalamazoo Public School has enrollment increases of 15 percent!
• For 2009 graduates, almost 90 percent of the students are eligible for The Kalamazoo Promise
• Almost one-half of the students are either at Kalamazoo Valley Community College or Western Michigan University; that provides an extra five million dollars into our greater community
• Businesses continue to cite The Kalamazoo Promise as a unique feature and draw to the greater Kalamazoo area
• Once again, the front page of the Wall Street Journal featured our community and quoted top executives at Keyser Aluminum as saying, “Everyone is talking about education, in Kalamazoo they are actually doing something!”
• The Kalamazoo Promise is being replicated all over the United States and will return to Kalamazoo to learn more; PromiseNet 2010 will be held June 16-18, 2010
• The only urban area that had population growth in 2008 in Michigan is Kalamazoo County
• While housing construction and sales are only slightly up, they continue to outperform both our state and the nation
• We are extremely excited to be graduating our first class of Bachelor Degree students in June 2010!

News Links:

The Kalamazoo Promise
The Kalamazoo Promise continues to hold firm in hard times (Kalamazoo Gazette, April 12, 2009)
New book assesses community's response to The Kalamazoo Promise (Kalamazoo Gazette, April 11, 2009)
Kalamazoo Promise has spent $10 million on college scholarships (Kalamazoo Gazette, April 7, 2009)