Implementing a Promise: How Counselors and Principals Make Sense of and Enact a Large-Scale Urban Promise Program

• In Event: 60.058 - Promise Scholarship Programs in High-Poverty Communities: What Is the Impact of Promise Scholarship Programs on College Access in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin?

Abstract

Objective
The purpose of this paper is to trace the evolution of the Promise movement over the past decade, explain how these competing models emerged, summarize the impact of several established programs that illustrate these key programmatic differences, and propose a framework for comparing Promise scholarship programs along the dimensions of student eligibility and post-secondary options.

Perspective
Since the announcement of the Kalamazoo Promise in 2005, place-based scholarship programs have emerged in communities of all types and sizes, with more than 35 created to date. Unlike traditional approaches to student financial aid, Promise programs award scholarships based on continuous attendance and residency within a given school district. These programs share the goals of expanding access to higher education, deepening the college-going culture in K-12 school districts, and stimulating economic development; however, they differ in important ways. Approximately half the programs have adopted the universal eligibility criteria of the Kalamazoo Promise, while the other half target their benefits on the basis of academic merit and sometimes financial need. Another critical difference is where students are allowed to use their scholarships; some programs limit use to local institutions while others allow students to access a broad range of post-secondary institutions.

Mode of inquiry
The mode of inquiry is qualitative and historical, drawing on the author’s previous research into the Kalamazoo Promise and the place-based scholarship movement (Miller-Adams 2009, Miller-Adams 2014), as well as social science literature addressing policy diffusion and innovation, universal versus targeted social programs, and collective impact.

Data sources
Evidence is based on the author’s ongoing study of the Promise movement; insights from academic research and program evaluations of existing Promise programs; and interviews with Promise stakeholders in multiple communities.

Results
Preliminary findings suggest that the impact of Promise scholarship programs will vary depending on how they are structured, with universal programs better suited to the goals of transforming K-12 districts’ college-going culture and stimulating economic development, and merit-based programs more efficient in targeting those students who will be successful in a post-secondary setting.

Significance
The Promise model has been replicated widely (and continues to be explored in many communities) as a strategy for broadening access to higher education and revitalizing communities; however, replication has taken place without a solid empirical foundation about the results of Promise programs to date or a clear understanding of how choices made by stakeholders about critical design features will shape program outcomes. This paper, and this panel as a whole, will contribute to collective knowledge about the impact of Promise programs and ensure that its use as a strategy for broadening access to higher education is based on a realistic appraisal of potential outcomes.

Authors

• Paul Kuttner, University of Utah

• Kelly K. Rifelj, Tulane University