... Ph.D., Ceceilia Parnther, Ph.D., Monica Liggins-Abrams, & Andrea Beach, Ph.D. .... had really good job and Mom was in real ... My mom couldn't get hired.
Conversing with Kalamazoo Promise Scholars: An Inquiry into the Beliefs, Motivations, and Experiences of Tuition-Free College Students
By: Daniel Collier, Ph.D., Ceceilia Parnther, Ph.D., Monica Liggins-Abrams, & Andrea Beach, Ph.D. Western Michigan University – Center for Research on Instructional Change in Post-Secondary Education (CRICPE)
TUITION-FREE POLICIES •
Gaining strength and acceptance (Miller-Adams, 2015)
•
Polls indicate Americans may accept the “idea” of tuition-free college (White, 2016) – online discussions suggests otherwise (Collier, et al., 2017).
•
•
Who Deserves What
•
“Free Ride” rhetoric
Where are tuition-free students voices in the conversation?
WHAT IS THE KPROMISE?
Place-based scholarship
First-Dollar – leaves all grants/scholarships to students to use for living expenses
Covers mandatory tuition and fee – NOT cost of living expenses
Students have 10 years of eligibility from HS graduation or up to 130 credit hours
Funding % based on how many years the student has attended KPS – most get over 90% funding
Must maintain 2.0 GPA
WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE KPROMISE?
KPS School system is nearly 70% Free and Reduced Lunch
Widened post-secondary access for these students
Increased Post-Secondary Degree/Certificate Attainment to 48%, over a 10% increase
May contribute to In-Migration but more strongly contributed to reducing OutMigration ( Visit the Upjohn Institute – for what we know)
WHAT DON’T WE KNOW? Guiding Research Questions
College students’
How students are
KPromise perceptions
covering non-tuition
of the scholarship
expenses and how
- Know K-12 Perceptions
such impacts
(Miron, 2008)
experiences How students perceive
KPromise influences motivation and behavior - Know K-12 Changes
GUIDING FRAMEWORK & SITE
Combination of
Collaboration with on-campus
Tinto (1993) and Bean (1980)
KPromise Scholars Office,
- Interview protocol developed aligned
KPromise Administrators, and
with models
our unit
Conducted at Large, Regional Public Institution in an Urban setting in SW Michigan
SAMPLE
INTERVIEWING, CODING, & TRIANGULATION • Before interview, students engaged in a survey capturing demographic data and self-reports of health, and engagement.
• Semi-structured interview lasting between 20-80 minutes
• Dan conducted all of the interviewing for consistency
• Deductive, thematic approach (Braun & Clarke, 2006) – matching responses to themes found in Tinto (1993) and Bean (1980).
• Multi-coder approach (Barbour, 2001)
• Triangulated findings in meetings with KPromise administration and member-checks (n=5, 25%) – both groups were encouraged to read the findings and comment. Both groups indicated the findings matched professional or personal experiences respectively.
z
STUDENT PERCEPTIONS OF PROMISE I see myself sort of an investment from, like I see myself as an investment so not only just
I thank everybody who contributed to this fund because it made college more of an option, and with me getting older, I understand how finances, and all that sort of thing work. It made me appreciate it more and more. I wish
from the scholarship foundation itself, but the Kalamazoo public schools. I always feel indebted that I not only have to graduate to let them know that what they did was right and they did invest into something that would go onto bring
everybody could get this scholarship, but
fruit.
everybody doesn’t have the same
– Carrie
opportunities. – Mike
I feel it’s my duty to get those A’s get those B’s. I feel it would be a dishonor to the people who work hard to make that money and who are giving me that money. - Rae
HOW ARE PERCEPTIONS FORMED? First when we heard it, we lived in Minnesota at the time. We
“He [Dad]
moved here when I was 10. My parents
was excited… I didn’t really
had really good job and Mom was in real
understand how big that it
estate. My dad worked at CGATE.
really was, how much college
They dropped everything to move to
really cost and how much
Kalamazoo. My dad was unemployed for
money that the Promise
three months. My mom couldn't get hired
actually really save you.”
because she was overqualified for a job. - Beth
- Travis From like fourth grade to senior year, like, "Hey, you go to college, you get it for free." You don't realize how awesome and amazing that is until you get to college and you don't have to take out any loans.
– Gina
KPROMISE DRIVES DESIRE TO PERFORM I mean, they're [KPromise]
…when I did fail a class
paying for it, so you owe it to
that made me feel bad about those
them to make the best use of it.
students, other students who really
I've always had the attitude that
want to be in the position I was in
it's either I do it while they're paying for it now, or I pay for it later. – Daniel
[having KPromise]. And I'm thinking about the students who really want to be in the position I was at. And I've failed the class, and they want to do the class. That's when I mainly feel bad. – Luke
I don't want to waste
their [Kpromise] money, so I feel like I have to graduate.
Don’t let bad
– Karen
examples like myself detour from funding other examples. - Travis
COVERING REMAINING COSTS I could afford school with the Promise and everything, but things at home, so I just needed it for bills and things like that since I'm not able to work over 20 hours a week at work. [Amount] $2,000. – Eve
I split it [resident hall costs], two-thirds on me, one-third on my parents. So, they pay, I think I said it was 3,000 ... They usually give me 1,000 for that, and then I pay the rest, which usually ends up being around $2,000. I
I have $2,000 in loans, I
babysat from Freshmen year of high school. And
took it out because at
then, I picked up a job, I was at Jet's Pizza, for it
the time I needed a car,
was the tail end of my Junior year, and I've pretty
so I ended up being able
much been working ever since.
to fix my car.
- Gina
– Uma
STUDENTS RECOGNIZE OTHER’S FINANCIAL DISTRESS The closer I am to
I was talking to this girl and
ending college the more I realize how fortunate I am
was telling her how stressed I am. I was just about
because I make closer connections with friends and
school, in general, and work, when I had a job. And, I
learn about their situations and learn how much
was working like 12 hours a week. I only had like one
either they're taking money out or they're getting
class that actually had exams, and she works 40
money from their parents. I'm lucky to be in a
hours a week. And, she doesn't have a car, like, her
situation where I'm completed dependent on my
job isn't even close to here. Her account was frozen
own, where I'm self-sufficient. I don't think I'd be able to be that way at this age without the Kalamazoo Promise. – Oscar
because she couldn't pay some of her [fees]. She's a double major. She just does so much. She deserves so much more than what she gets, and I just felt like I didn't the right to complain. - Hillary
FOOD INSECURITY EXISTS I line myself up to go to functions and stuff where I know I can get the free food. There’s always a lot of
I always try to make sure
free food around campus… I try not to
that they [Children]
drink as much water and stuff because I
have everything before I even do.
know that if I drink a lot of water, it open
They're the only reasons I'm
me up or make me hungry… I’ll just wait
trying to get ahead, so I can be able to provide for them. – Eve
till later in the evening because I know
I’m only basically going to eat this one time a day. – Frank
LIMITATIONS
Financial
Conducted on
perceptions and
at-the-time only
indicators may be
persisting
different due to
students
Generalizability – many Promise policies fund only 2-year institutions
uniqueness of KPromise (forgiving, first-dollar)
TAKEAWAYS Wanted to give students a voice in the conversation • KPromise scholars do not illustrate this is a “Free Ride” and promote deep gratitude and desires to return the favor – financially and non-financially – to the community. Perceptions of KPromise were cultivated by KPromise, KPS, and parents. • Was a combined community effort • We may have to be more careful on how we market the idea of the Promise to students KPromise serves a motivation for perform and persist • There are some manifestations of guilt when underperforming that may be part of the marketing – notably around taking the Promise away from the community Remaining Costs • Most students still work out of necessity • Half of the students posses loan debt – this is not “debt-free” • Food insecurity exists and must be addressed
Our findings are mostly good news! But we still have work to do to and expecting
that covering tuition and fees to solve these students’ issues is problematic.
