Officials from Grand Valley State University Tuesday announced the school is expanding its tuition-free program to any qualified Michigan student who wants to enroll. The program, called the “Grand Valley Pledge,” allows qualified students who have a family income of less than $50k to attend the University free-of-charge.
The pledge is new—University officials only announced it back in 2021—however, originally it only applied to the six surrounding counties where GVSU has a presence.
That changed Tuesday, when Grand Valley announced the tuition-free program would now be available to students across the state of Michigan.
B. Donta Truss, is the vice president for Enrollment Management and Educational Outreach at the University. He says the financial barriers of college are what keep so many from achieving a higher education.
“We believe the key to success is meeting students where they are and this plan allows us to meet more students and to ensure they have an opportunity to succeed in college.”
According to the University, nearly 400 students who qualified for the Grand Valley Pledge enrolled last Fall semester.
According to GVSU, a recent study by the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics found high school juniors who believe they cannot afford higher education are 20 percentage points less likely to attend college within the first three years after high school than their peers who do not think affordability is a barrier.
