Every Child in this Town Goes to College

The Town That Decided to Send All Its Kids to College

Residents of Baldwin, Michigan, pooled together their money to provide scholarships for everyone, and it changed the town profoundly.

Alana Semuels | August 18, 2015

College was never much of an option for most students in this tiny town of 1,200 located in the woods of the Manistee National Forest. Only 12 of the 32 kids who graduated high school in 2005 enrolled in college. Only two of those have gotten their bachelor’s degree.

Source: http://www.9and10news.com/story/21560261/community-of-baldwin-has-high-hopes-for-towns-future

That was just a decade ago. Now, nearly everybody who graduated from the high school here in June is off to a four-year college, a community college, or a technical school. Kindergarten students talk about going to college. High schoolers take trips to campuses around the state and, at a raucous assembly each spring, reveal to the school which colleges they’re going to attend.

<more at http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/08/baldwin-michigan-promise/401399/; related links: http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/01/the-genius-of-obamas-two-year-college-proposal/384429/ (The Genius of Obama's Two-Year College Proposal; The plan's potential to promote socioeconomic and racial integration is critical to advancing higher education. January 12, 2015) and http://www.michigan.gov/treasury/0,1607,7-121-1755_1963-213589--,00.html (Granholm Announces 10 Promise Zone Designations in Communities Across Michigan)>