Mansfield Joins Others Looking at Kalamazoo Promise

Last week, officials from Mansfield visited Kalamazoo, Mich., to learn more about how that community is working to attract growing companies and retain young talent by offering free college tuition to all residents.

The two-year-old program, known as the Kalamazoo Promise,  is generating a lot of interest in Northeast Ohio -- officials in Akron, the Mahoning Valley and elsewhere are pursuing different options to use free tuition as an economic development vehicle.

You can read more about what the Mansfield folks learned in this story from the Mansfield News Journal. Here's a key quote:

"I think they have a remarkable program going, and the thing that makes it work is great leadership, not only from the donors but all the educational people involved," said Bob Zettler, a work force consultant for the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services at North Central State College.

"I don't know how likely it's going to be to bring that program here, but a community that has a lot of similar issues to ours found a way to help themselves, and I think we could, too."

You can read more about similar efforts in Northeast Ohio here.