July 14, 2026
Uncertainty around the cost and value of college discourages many students from attending. Tuition-free college guarantees, often known as “Promise” programs, seek to make the choice easier by providing a simple, clear message about affordability and support to help students prepare for a successful post secondary experience. But how effective are these programs?
One program in southwest Michigan—the Bearcat Advantage—is helping more Battle Creek Public Schools graduates attend four-year colleges and universities, according to a new evaluation by a team of Upjohn experts. Michelle Miller-Adams, Kyle Huisman, Bridget Timmeney, and Kevin Hollenbeck estimate that the scholarship increased four-year college enrollment by approximately 10 percentage points for the graduating classes of 2023 through 2025.
Launched in 2023 and funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Bearcat Advantage is a tuition-free college program for high school graduates in Battle Creek, Michigan, that covers up to 100 percent of tuition and mandatory fees for undergraduate courses at all public and some private four-year colleges and universities in Michigan or eligible Historically Black Colleges and Universities. It is one of the nation’s most generous tuition-free programs.
The evaluation report, covering Bearcat Advantage’s first two and a half years, finds evidence the program is achieving its primary goal of increasing four-year college enrollment among students who otherwise might not have enrolled in college at all or who would have postponed enrollment. The team compared enrollment trends in Battle Creek Public Schools with those of other Michigan school districts before and after the introduction of the scholarship program in order to estimate how enrollment rates would likely have changed in the absence of the Bearcat Advantage. They find that four-year college enrollment rates were substantially higher for recent cohorts than would have been expected without the program.
The program is also helping to support gains in high school graduation and financial aid preparation. Battle Creek Central High School’s four-year graduation rate rose to 84 percent in 2025, a rate not seen since 2020. Completion rates for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) had risen to 67 percent by June 2026 and were expected to rise further during the summer, returning to pre-pandemic levels and exceeding rates in neighboring districts. These improvements reflect a concerted effort by staff, teachers, and families to ensure students can access all available financial aid, researchers found.
The Upjohn Institute experts were engaged as the program’s evaluators shortly after its launch. Team members visit the community regularly, meeting with high-school students, teachers, and staff to learn about program operations firsthand, and interview students currently enrolled in college and receiving the Bearcat Advantage. Findings from this qualitative research are included in the report and shared with program staff to support continuous improvement efforts. The team also used quantitative analysis to estimate the impact of the Bearcat Advantage on college enrollment, progression, and completion.
The relationship between Upjohn Institute evaluators and Battle Creek Public Schools will continue into a third year.
The Upjohn Institute has tracked the emergence of Promise scholarship programs for more than two decades, compiling a database of more than 200 such initiatives along with evidence about what works—and what doesn’t—when designing a place-based scholarship program. The Bearcat Advantage is one of the few such scholarships to be awarded on a first-dollar basis. Because first-dollar programs provide financial assistance before other forms of aid are applied, students remain eligible for additional aid, such as Pell Grants, that can cover remaining expenses. This places the Bearcat Advantage in a select group of Promise programs, alongside the Kalamazoo Promise.
Experts
