Michigan's Broken 'Promise'

Students on college campus' all across Michigan are in a flurry. The talks of the Michigan Promise Scholarship, a $1000-$2000 scholarship offered to Michigan college students for high MEAP scores, being cut from the state's budget has students in Eastern's community in quite a stir. An article in the Eastern Echo, Black Student Unions unite to save scholarship, showcases the efforts among the Black Student Union and the NAACP to bring light to the issue. In the eyes of most college students, many who rely on this scholarship to continue their education, Michigan has broken her promise. Cutting the scholarship can, and will, have HUGE effects on college students.

First, cutting the scholarship will unneccesarily force many students to take out more student loans, or, in the worst case, drop out of school completly. This scholarship is essential to most of the students who use it, myself included. This will inevitably drive college students into an even bigger pile of debt.

Second, aside from the debt, cutting the scholarship can deter future college students from lower income families from attending a university. This, in the long run will no doubt have negative effects on the colleges and universities themselves.

Third, a slightly optimistic effect of the scholarship cut would be to educate young people to get involved. To write to their congressmen and local officials. To fight for their right to an education. The article described the efforts of not only students at Eastern and U of M but students at MSU to write personal letters describing how the cut would affect them, as well as to plan trips to Lansing.

The Michigan Promise Scholarship has been a blessing for many college students across the state. It has given countless young people to attend a higher education facility in the hopes of achieving their dreams. Why would Michigan want to break her promise?