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Michigan City Promise reports $758,707 in scholarship payments since 2021; 29 local students selected for 2024 class
Summary
Keila Ward, director of education and workforce development, told the Michigan City Common Council the Promise scholarship paid $758,707.45 across academic years 2021'25 and $1,426,129.15 since the program began in 2017.
At the Oct. 21 Michigan City Common Council meeting, Keila Ward, director of education and workforce development and program director for the Michigan City Promise scholarship, presented the program's annual report for 2025 and a financial summary covering academic years 2020'21 through 2024'25.
Ward told councilors the program paid $162,947.82 for the 2021'22 academic year; $220,742.10 for 2022'23; $181,358.92 for 2023'24; and $193,658.61 for 2024'25, for a four-year total of $758,707.45. She also said that since the program began in 2017 it has paid $1,426,129.15 in scholarships.
Ward described changes to application processing this year, including a new software platform that will move the program toward a fully paperless application process. She said the program received a mix of paper and online applications this year because guidance counselors had some paper forms earlier in the cycle; she expects to transition to all online submissions next year.
Ward provided student counts and selection details. She said there were 88 eligible seniors from Michigan City High School this cycle; staff met 40 of them in person, and 45 students applied to Promise. Of those, 29 were selected for Promise scholarships. Ward said students who had attended a qualifying high school for four years and met application and FAFSA, service-hour and GPA requirements could receive the program's maximum award of $5,000 ($2,500 per semester). Where a student had other tuition-only scholarships, she said Promise pays a secondary award (for example a $500 payment) to allow partial support when primary tuition scholarships cover most costs.
At Marquette Catholic High School Ward said 23 seniors were eligible, 20 were reached in person and five applied; 1 Marquette student was selected. Ward also reported a breakdown of recipients by housing status in the Michigan City cohort: 20 renters and 25 homeowners among those eligible; in the 29 selected for Promise from Michigan City High School, the split was roughly half renters and half homeowners.
Council members asked follow-up questions on award amounts and eligibility criteria. Councilman Beatrice asked why some award amounts were $5,000 and others $500 or $2,500; Ward explained the semester-by-semester disbursement and the secondary nature of Promise payments when tuition is already covered by another program. Councilwoman Lee asked why some eligible students were not selected; Ward said missing FAFSA documentation, incomplete service-hour forms, missing GPA documentation or late applications were the chief reasons.
Ward said she would provide a current balance sheet for the scholarship fund to council members after the meeting, and that the program selected 30 new awardees this year and intends to continue outreach and the apprenticeship-readiness partnership with regional workforce programs.
Ward's report and budget sheets were distributed to council members as part of the meeting packet.
