Battle Creek Public Schools announces the Bearcat Advantage college scholarship

WMUK

Published May 17, 2023 at 5:52 PM EDT

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A tassel with 2023 on it rests on a graduation cap as students walk in a procession for Howard University's commencement in Washington, Saturday, May 13, 2023. Howard is one of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities or HBCUs where students can use the Bearcat Advantage.

Alex Brandon/AP

The scholarship has much in common with the Kalamazoo Promise, which launched in 2005.

The Battle Creek Public Schools has announced a new scholarship for qualified graduates, starting with the Class of 2023.

BCPS says the Bearcat Advantage will cover tuition and mandatory fees at any four-year university or college in Michigan. (A different scholarship, Legacy Scholars, applies for BCPS students moving on to community college.)

It’ll also cover tuition and fees at most of the country's Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

As with the Kalamazoo Promise, the longer the student has attended school in the district, the larger the percentage of tuition and fees covered. Students who started in BCPS in kindergarten are fully covered. The coverage drops to 65 percent for students who begin in ninth grade. Students who came to the district after ninth grade are not eligible.

Also like the Promise, the Advantage allows students to apply other funds, such as federal Pell Grants, to the cost of their college education.

BCPS says it established the Advantage "with the support of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation."