Students in Newaygo County have the chance to attend college tuition free.
The Newaygo County Promise is a scholarship program modeled after the Kalamazoo Promise. It provides money for tuition, book costs and fees.
Students in six districts will be eligible for the assistance. They are Newaygo, Grant, Fremont, Hesperia, White Cloud and Big Jackson.
Leaders say the program is a powerful tool to take charge of their economic future.
"Newaygo County is a very high poverty area; we have a very low college attainment rate in Newaygo County -- a rate that is less than that of the state of Michigan on average, and we have not had a post-secondary presence here," said Newaygo County Regional Educational Service Agency Superintendent Dr. Lori Tubbergen. "Traditionally, our Newaygo County kids have had to travel and afford college. With this opportunity, we have closed that opportunity gap."
Newaygo County joins Muskegon County as the only promise zones that are county-wide.
Detroit, Lansing, Saginaw, and Battle Creek are some of the cities that are also involved in the promise program.
The promise zone concept in Michigan dates back to 2007, when then-Governor Jennifer Granholm proposed it in her state of the state address.