Even with free tuition, hurdles remain for raising number of college grads

Since 2006, 56 Kalamazoo Promise graduates have obtained four-year bachelor's degrees and 21 have graduated with associate degrees. The Promise gives students 10 years to complete degrees.

Justin Hamilton, a spokesman for U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, said the Obama administration welcomed the proliferation of Promise-style programs, even if early results were mixed.

"These partnerships are an opportunity," Hamilton said. "We recognize there is a pipeline issue. Not enough kids are graduating ... college- and career-ready, so we have to do what we can to make them well-prepared."

Boehme, who's now a freshman studying political science and business at the University of Michigan, said the program had at the very least changed the conversation in his hometown of Kalamazoo.

"I don't exactly know what it was like before the Promise, but now everybody in high school is talking about where they are going to college," Boehme said.

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(c) 2010, The Hechinger Report