LANSING – State Representatives Lisa Brown (D-West Bloomfield), Vicki Barnett (D-Farmington Hills) and Ellen Cogen Lipton (D-Huntington Woods) today threw their support behind Michigan college students at a rally at the State Capitol to save the Michigan Promise Scholarship. The scholarship, which has made college affordable and accessible for nearly 100,000 Michigan families, is in danger of being eliminated due to budget cuts proposed by the Senate.
"We cannot expect to move Michigan forward by cutting programs that help our young adults compete for good-paying jobs," Brown said. "Today, most employers won't even consider an applicant without a college degree. These scholarships are instrumental in ensuring that our kids have access to the training and skills they need. As a mother of three boys, I try to teach my kids that hard work pays off – cutting the Promise Scholarship sends the wrong message."
The Michigan Promise Scholarship awards Michigan students with a total of $4,000 after they complete two years of community college, university or vocational training with a grade-point average of 2.5 or higher. Nearly 100,000 students rely on the Promise Scholarship every year.
"At a time when Michigan families are falling behind in a down economy, we must not eliminate a program that's opened the door to college for tens of thousands of motivated students," Barnett said. "We should stand by our kids when they work hard and do well in school, not turn our backs on them. The effort to end the Michigan Promise is shortsighted and counterproductive, and will only hurt our ability to attract the jobs we need to revitalize our economy and turn our state around."
Today's rally included students from universities around the state, lawmakers and residents who understand how important education is to Michigan's future.
"Education is the cornerstone of a strong economy," Lipton said. "In order to turn the economy around we need to invest in creating a well-trained workforce as a means to attract new businesses to Michigan. Cutting the Promise Scholarship will only prevent more kids from going to college and leave our state unprepared to compete in the 21st century global marketplace."