A scholarship program that aims to give Detroit high school students a tuition-free path to higher education is expanding beyond community colleges this year to include four-year institutions.

The $2.5 million Detroit Promise, unveiled in March, is giving two-year scholarships to 540 Detroit high school graduates to attend five community colleges in the region. It also is pilot testing an initiative to send 293 students to the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and other four-year institutions.

The two-year pilot program will cover four years of tuition costs and fees for students in the program this year, and another cohort next year. Officials are working to make it permanent.....

.....The study, conducted by MDRC, a social policy research organization based in New York, will test a performance-based scholarship among the Detroit Promise Path scholars.....

.....“Performance-based scholarships can make a difference,” said Colleen Sommo, a senior research associate at MDRC. “Having comprehensive programs that alleviate multiple barriers to success helps students progress in their college careers and graduate”.....

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