On Thursday, Governor Whitmer launched a new program that offers essential and frontline workers tuition free college.
The program is called and offers essential, frontline workers a tuition free path to community college.
“It’s a lot when you’re trying to work and you’re working 40 hours a week,” says Felicia Clark, a deli supervisor at Willow’s Market & Meats in Cadillac.
With two kids at home and working full time, Clark says it’s hard to invest in her education:
“I think that sometimes people kind of just go and go and just do what they have to do and it’s kind of hard to kind of look up and see that big picture.”
She says the Futures for Frontliners Program gives essential workers like herself the incentive to get their degree.
“I have two small children and I am very, very interested in going back for my degree at some point but you know, how am I ever going to do that, I have bills to pay.”
Chad Inabinet is the Dean of Student Services at West Shore Community College. He says within 15 minutes of the governor’s announcement today, interested students were already reaching out to his office on how they can apply:
“What’s nice about this is that by offering the tuition for these folks maybe they can take a little extra time off of work so that they can then focus on their education and complete that degree that they’re interested in,” says Inabinet.
To be eligible, you must be a Michigan resident, do not have a previous degree and worked in an essential industry at least part time between April 1st to June 30th.
Inabinet says, it’s another way to say thank you to frontline workers like Clark who have kept America moving:
“This is a way to kind of give back to them and say, you know what you served us well, how can serve you, to provide you opportunities in life that you might not already have.”
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