LANSING — An expansion to the Lansing Promise scholarship program will enable more Lansing School District students to seek higher education after graduation.
Lansing Promise officials announced Wednesday a new Lansing Promise Guarantee Scholarship. The new scholarship would allow students enrolled in the district for at least one full year access to up to $10,000 to attend Lansing Community College, the Douglas J Aveda Institute, or an approved skilled trades program in the state of Michigan.
Previously, only students who attended high school in the Lansing School District for the full four years were eligible to receive any scholarship from the Lansing Promise.
The over $1 million scholarship fund has existed since 2012, and through state funding and donations has made higher education accessible for thousands of Lansing School District students who live in the city, board Chair Abel Travis said during a Wednesday afternoon press conference at the former REO School.
“We believe in the inherent worth of every Lansing student,” Travis said. “We want to help those scholars achieve the maximum potential that they have the ability to.”
Students who are eligible for the original Lansing Promise scholarship and are enrolled for the entirety of high school in the district will also see additional benefits to what was available for them.
If they decide to attend LCC, they will receive up to $10,000 in scholarship money to ensure completion of their associate degree. Previously, the scholarship covered 65 credits, books and course fees.
Students will now have a six-year window to use their funds, instead of the four-year window they had previously, said Carmen Argersinger, head of corporate citizenship and community affairs at Delta Dental of Michigan and Lansing Promise vice chair.
“(The added years) are in response to the fact that a four-year degree isn’t often completed in four years anymore,” Argersinger said.
The scholarship is also expanding to cover two more years of schooling for those who want to receive a bachelor’s degree at Michigan State University, the University of Olivet or Davenport University within six years of graduating high school, Argersinger said. A maximum of $2,500 a semester will be covered by the scholarship.
Just like the Lansing Promise Guarantee scholarship, up to $10,000 will be available for Lansing Promise scholars who would prefer to attend Douglas J Aveda Institute or a Michigan-based skilled trades program.
Exactly 369 graduates were accepted into the Lansing Promise program in 2024, and are now enrolled in postsecondary education, Executive Director Justin Sheehan said.
In its first year of 2012, Lansing Promise began funding college for 50 Lansing high school graduates.
Contact Sarah Atwood at satwood@lsj.com, or follow her on X @sarahmatwood.
