The Kalamazoo Promise, and Enrollment and Achievement Trends in Kalamazoo Public Schools

Abstract

with up to 100 percent of tuition for attendance at a Michigan community college or public university. Why should there be broad interest in the Promise’s effects? The Kalamazoo Promise was funded by anonymous private donors, a model which is difficult to emulate. However, many American communities are interested in providing guarantees of post-secondary tuition that would be similar to the Promise in broadly benefitting many students. Such guarantees may require significant involvement by state and local governments, particularly in providing part of the funding. An important issue is whether these public costs will be justified by sufficient social benefits. This requires some estimate of Promise-style programs ’ effects. As the Kalamazoo Promise is one of the “oldest ” of such programs, at a little less than five years of age, the post-Promise trends in Kalamazoo Public Schools may provide some indication of the social benefits of Promise-style programs. “Effects ” is appropriately in quotation marks because of the difficulty in determining causation. We observe Kalamazoo Public Schools before and after the Promise. We observe trends in enrollment, student achievement, and other variables before and after the Promise. We