Wayne State stiffs students Meanwhile, U of M, MSU plan to make adjustments after Promise Grant cut By Corinne Lyons Staff Writer Published: Monday, December 7, 2009 Updated: Monday, December 7, 2009 23:12
With a little over a month left of the semester, I received chilling news from my mother: I had received a tuition bill. It was a letter that stated I would have to pay back a thousand dollars to Wayne State. I thought it was a joke until my mother told me that I received a bill. I'm not even sure that Wayne State sends out bills at the start of the school year. I was shocked and, more importantly, hurt. I am a Michigan Promise scholar, and like many of my fellow scholars, I sat anxiously while Michigan tried to pass a state budget. Cutting the funding for the Michigan Promise wasn't my problem, I thought. But by the beginning of the school year, I had been lied to. Michigan had made a pact with me: pass the tests; receive help with school. I did my part. But three years later, they were backing out. I did my research, and I found out that Michigan State University is using federal stimulus funds to replace the scholarship for the fall semester to all students. They also plan to replace scholarships for need-based students during the winter semester. There are about 8,000 Michigan State students who received the scholarship in the fall. I was surprised to learn, after calling the University of Michigan and getting directed to a jargonfilled newsletter, much like the letter I received, that those students were being asked to repay the money as well. The only difference from WSU is that U of M gives their students options. If you attend U of M, and you received the Michigan's Promise, you have a chance to take out a loan that you declined earlier in the year, believing that you had a scholarship. Wayne State has failed me. Instead of giving me options, they tell me to pay it back. Instead of
helping me pay it, they left me in the cold. I've always loved WSU. It is a unique place, almost like a city within Detroit. It gives residents like me a chance to continue their education. Since Michigan broke its promise to me, maybe I should break its promise to them. I planned on returning to the state after living elsewhere for a while. But if they are breaking promises now, they'll break them later. If they are breaking promises with college money, then what else will they break promises with?