The promise of college

This is so wrong on so many levels but what the heck did they spend $875,000 on? Alarm clocks? There is no tuition in that number. And that insightful comment by the Baker College President has me shaking my head. If students don't get a guarantee of free college they won't graduate from high school? Asinine!

The promise of college: Read it all but this is the raw meat:

In contrast, LEAD 2005 was made possible by an $875,000 federal grant that paid for the advocates and student activities and field trips over the six years. In addition, more than $600,000 in tuition and college living costs are expected to be paid by GVSU, MCC, Baker and the Community Foundation for the next school year alone.

Rick Amidon, president of Baker College, believes that if students have doubts about their ability to afford college, they have a "disincentive" to graduate from high school. He said Baker -- where average annual tuition is $7,000 -- provided the tuition incentive because "it's the right thing to do."

"The fact (the advocates) were consistently there every year from seventh grade made all the difference in the world, and that teaches us a lot of things about how students should be educated."

"It's taking the time to do something different," Foster said. "You have to change your thoughts about education."
"You can get a kid to college, but you need to get them to believe it."