Opportunity Knocks

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Detroit Promise
Photo courtesy of the Detroit Regional Chamber

Walsh College in Troy is partnering with the Detroit Regional Chamber’s Detroit Promise program by offering transfers and scholarships to two-year community college graduates. The first wave of students could be enrolled as soon as the spring 2020 semester.

To qualify for the transfer and scholarship to Walsh (worth about $40,000 over two years), Detroit Promise students must have a 3.0 grade point average, 60 credits, or an associate degree from either Henry Ford College, Jackson College, Macomb Community College, Oakland Community College, Schoolcraft College, or the Wayne County Community College District.

“It’s a big step for us because we didn’t have a mechanism for someone completing a two-year program to pursue a four-year degree if they were successful at the community college,” says Greg Handel, vice president of education and talent programs at the Detroit Regional Chamber.  “It adds a piece of the puzzle for us.”

Susan Foley, vice president and chief advancement officer at Walsh College, says the arrangement is mutually beneficial: “We filled a need for them, and they filled a need for us.”

Both Handel and Foley expect the program to start off with five to 10 students, and they anticipate that it will grow over time. So far, Detroit Promise has sent more than 3,000 Detroit high school graduates to community college, and approximately 150 graduates to four-year colleges and universities.