Full tuition guaranteed to
in-state students in need
University Regents
affirm committment
to low-income
Michigan families
By RIYAH BASHA
Daily News Editor
University of Michigan alum
Lehman Robinson applied to his
now alma mater on a whim. As a
first-generation
college
student
coming
from
a
low-income
household, he assumed the school
would be out of his family’s means
— until he received his financial aid
notice. Six years later, he said he’s
still grateful for his aid package,
which covered much of his tuition.
Still, he had no idea what was in
store when he applied.
Robinson would now be covered
by the University’s new Go Blue
Guarantee: a commitment to free
tuition for in-state undergraduate
students on the Ann Arbor campus
with family incomes under $65,000.
Set to go into effect in January 2018,
the announcement was publicly
revealed at the Board of Regents
meeting June 15. Even though the
3,000 students currently on campus
under that financial threshold
already typically receive full aid,
the guarantee succeeded in making
national headlines as a model of
affordable higher education.
University officials’ comments
last week centered around breaking
down perceptions of the University
as cost prohibitive.
“I think about the seventh grader
in Ypsilanti or Detroit or Grand
Rapids whose mom or dad can say
to them, ‘Work hard. Do well in
school. You can go to the University
of Michigan,’ ” University President
Mark Schlissel said Thursday.
“There are a lot of folks now that
can’t really say that because they
don’t know if they can afford it.”
Will the University’s bet — that
a public, visible commitment to
financial aid will boost low-income
students’ application rates — pay
off?
Kedra Ishop, vice provost for
enrollment
management,
said
the
University’s
preliminary
analysis indicates such signaling
messages can be that powerful.
Much of the University’s impetus
for the guarantee came from the
two-year-old
HAIL
Scholars
program, an initiative offering
“high-achieving,
low-income
students” with four years of free
tuition. Last fall, 262 freshmen
arrived on campus after being
directly pursued through HAIL;
select high schools in low-income
target areas received application
waivers, communication to parents
and school advisers and packages
complete with a note from Schlissel.
Though final results have yet to
be released, Ishop said early HAIL
analyses were enough to convince
administrators of the guarantee,
with application rates at target
schools rising by as much as 43
percent.
“That was almost a two-and-
a-half-fold increase,” Ishop said.
“We’re taking what HAIL taught
us, and going public with a version
of that specific commitment.”
HAIL draws from national
studies
like
that
of
Stanford
ONE-HUNDRED-TWENTY SIX YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
Thursday, June 22, 2017
Ann Arbor, MI
Weekly Summer Edition
michigandaily.com
INDEX
Vol. CXXVII, No. 77 | © 2017 The Michigan Daily
michigandaily.com
NEWS ....................................
OPINION ...............................
ARTS ......................................
CLASSIFIEDS.........................
MiC.........................................
SPORTS................................
NEWS
City Council
Councilmembers discuss
Paris Accords and voting.
>> SEE PAGE 3
NEWS
Local housing
Students and city leaders
discuss various housing
issues affecting Ann Arbor
residents.
>> SEE PAGE 2
OPINION
Free Speech
“those with political power
tend to reap the benefits of
free speech...”
>> SEE PAGE 4
ARTS
Concert
Coverage: Lorde
performs to a packed
crowd in New York City
>> SEE PAGE7
SPORTS
Muckalt hired
The new associate head
coach worked with Mel
Pearson at Michigan Tech.
>> SEE PAGE 11
inside
2
4
6
8
9
10
Planned Parenthood
supporters emphasize
impact of bill on
women’s health
By ANDREW HIYAMA
Summer Daily News Editor
Over 100 Ann Arbor residents
and
Planned
Parenthood
supporters rallied at the Michigan
Union Wednesday night to march
in opposition of the Republican
health care bill quickly and quietly
making its way through the Senate,
as well as the proposed federal
defunding of Planned Parenthood.
The
bill
has
received
widespread
criticism
for
its
lack of transparency. Though
Senate Majority Leader Mitch
McConnell (R–Kentucky) said a
draft of the bill will be released
Thursday — one week before it
is expected to come to a vote —
so far it has only been seen by a
handful of Republican senators.
The version of the bill passed by
the House of Representatives in
May is expected to increase the
number of uninsured Americans
by 23 million, according to the
Congressional Budget Office.
Speaking to the crowd ahead
of the march, Lauren Bacans, the
Mid Michigan Field Organizer for
Planned Parenthood, emphasized
the disproportionate impact of
the Republican’s proposed health
care plan on women.
“Everything is on the line for
the 2.4 million patients that rely
on Planned Parenthood services
annually and whose healthcare
is on the chopping block as
ANN ARBOR
See GO BLUE, Page 3
See PROTEST, Page 3
DESIGN BY MICHELLE PHILLIPS
Residents,
lawmakers
voice their
criticism of
Trumpcare