October 4, 2025 • 13 mins
In this episode, host Phil Tower welcomes Ashlee Mishler, Director of the Grand Rapids Promise Zone.
Ashlee joined us to discuss this important local scholarship program and how it is now expanding to make it easier for Grand Rapids students to move from community college to a four-year college degree.
Ashlee informed us that in January of 2026, graduates of Grand Rapids Community College with an associate's degree will be eligible for up to $7,000 per year to attend Ferris State University or Grand Valley State University through the Grand Rapids Promise Zone Authority. Each university may provide up to an additional $7,000 if tuition and fees exceed that amount.
The Promise Zone program, created in 2020, has supported nearly 2,000 GRCC students. It is open to city residents who graduate from eligible high schools and maintain continuous residency beginning in 11th grade
Online: The Grand Rapids Promise Zone
Ashlee joined us to discuss this important local scholarship program and how it is now expanding to make it easier for Grand Rapids students to move from community college to a four-year college degree.
Ashlee informed us that in January of 2026, graduates of Grand Rapids Community College with an associate's degree will be eligible for up to $7,000 per year to attend Ferris State University or Grand Valley State University through the Grand Rapids Promise Zone Authority. Each university may provide up to an additional $7,000 if tuition and fees exceed that amount.
The Promise Zone program, created in 2020, has supported nearly 2,000 GRCC students. It is open to city residents who graduate from eligible high schools and maintain continuous residency beginning in 11th grade
Online: The Grand Rapids Promise Zone
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
This is iHeartRadio's West Michigan Weekend. West Michigan Weekend is
a weekly program designed to inform and enlighten on a
wide range of public policy issues, as well as news
and current events. Now here's your host, Phil Tower.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
In this segment, I'm pleased to catch up with Ashley Mischler.
She is director of the Grand Rapids Promise Zone Scholarship
and she's on our liveline to talk about some exciting news.
A local scholarship program just announced a couple of weeks ago,
actually on Monday, September twenty second, making it easier for
(00:40):
Grand Rapid students to move from community college to a
four year degree. This is actually pretty exciting news. That's
why we brought in Ashley Mischler, Promise Zone director, to
talk about this, because, hey, this is exciting news. Is
not very often we get to talk about good news
here on the radio. So Ashley, first of all, thank
(01:01):
you for taking a couple of time, a couple of
moments do speak with it us about this exciting news.
Speaker 4 (01:08):
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Yeah, so I saw this news.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
I saw the press conference, some video of that on television.
This is a big deal because a lot of people
are involved, including Ferry State University and Grand Valley State
University here in Grand Rapids. But I think a lot
of people are familiar, Ashley with the name or the
term Grand Rapids Promise Zone and the scholarship, but they
(01:34):
may not really understand how it works, who's eligible. It's
actually been with us for roughly five years. So can
you give our listeners a recap of what the Grand
Rapids Promise Zone does and who's eligible for it?
Speaker 4 (01:49):
Absolutely? So, Like you mentioned, the Grand Rapets Promisone began
with the high school graduating class of twenty twenty, and
we are a scholarship and support programs for Grand Rapids students.
So what that means is that in order to be eligible,
students must reside within the actual city limits of Grand
Rapids and intend one of our twenty five eligible high schools,
(02:13):
as well as graduate from one of those eligible high schools.
So the residency piece and the high school attendance piece.
Students must do both of those things from eleventh grade
through high school graduation. And if they do, you know,
the living in Grand Rapids, attending an eligible school, and graduating,
they are automatically eligible for the scholarship. So We don't
(02:37):
have any GPA requirements or anything like that. The residency
and school attendance and graduation are what qualify students for
the scholarship. So, like you mentioned, we provide fundings for
students to attend GRCC for up to seventy two credit
hours attempted credit hours for free. We also give funding
(03:00):
for books and supplies as well as on campus expenses.
But more than just the money too, we also provide
support for our students. So we have a team of
people that are at our eligible high school supporting students
and families with a post secondary process. And then we
also have those supports here at GRCC as well, supporting
(03:22):
students through their academic journey here on campus. So not
only do we give money, we make sure that we
have our students have those wrap around supports as well.
And like you said, our exciting announcement is that we
are continuing funding for students to earn an associate degree
at GRCC. We're continuing some of that funding over at
the four year school so Grand Valley in Faris and
(03:45):
those two schools have also pitched in money, so students
still have a gap in tuition and fees after they
have used all of their federal and state aid and
that those promised and funds if there's still a gap
in those tuition and fs, those those two institutions have
so graciously partnered with us to provide even more money
for our students to make college even more affordable.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
Yeah, this is really cool I'm reading here. It says,
beginning in January of twenty twenty six, Promised owned students
become eligible for up to seven thousand dollars per academic
year at either Fair Estate or Grand Valley after earning
an associate's degree from GRCC. That funding can go toward tuition, fees,
(04:27):
on campus housing, a lot of things. This is fantastic news.
I mean, seven thousand dollars is that's a lot of
money and that can be extremely helpful, especially when I mean, Ashley,
let's you and I just acknowledge the obvious here on
the radio. College is expensive. So hats off to you
(04:49):
guys in Ferris and GVSU for realizing we need to
make this easier because people are really scrapping to help
their you know, parents are scrapping to help their kids
go to school. Even grandparents are getting involved. This is
you know, it takes the village to send a kid
to college and to pay for it. So this is
(05:10):
this is really cool and real quickly. The Grand Rapids
Promise Zone is actually one of thirteen promise zones in
what is known as the Michigan Promise Zone Association. Okay,
so the guy talking to you on the radio, I
didn't even know there was a Michigan Promise Zone Association.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
Yeah, interesting, talk about that.
Speaker 4 (05:30):
Yeah, So promise zones promisones that are through the state
of Michigan. There's thirteen of us, and we get together
regularly to help elevate the Promiszone message and collaborate when
we can to ensure that all Michigan Promiszone students have
access to higher education and support that they need in
order to go to college. So it's a really great
(05:52):
group of folks trying to make sure that our communities
are elevated. And you know, one way to do that
is through education.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
And you've got a terrific website.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
We want to mention at least a couple of times
during our conversation here on the radio. Grpromise Zone dot Com.
It's as easy as that Grpromise Zone dot Com. I
would think a lot of people if they've got a
junior or maybe even a sophomore in high school in
Grand Rapids or one of these other thirteen Promise Zones
(06:23):
in the Michigan Promise Zone Association, they want to begin
thinking about this process of taking an advantage for this
money that's out there, which is really tremendous. Let's focus
on Grand Rapids and people who are interested. They've got
a child in high school interested in going to GRCC,
(06:43):
maybe they're a sophomore, a junior. When can they begin
engaging with you in the Grand Rapids Promise Zone scholarship.
Speaker 4 (06:49):
They can begin engaging with us as early as they
would like. So, like I said, we have a team
of staff that are out in those thirteen high schools.
So on our website, like you mentioned gr promissone dot com,
under the contact us page, we have all of our
coordinators listed by high school. So even if your student
(07:10):
is in middle school, if you can kind of guess
maybe what high school they might attend, feel free to
reach out to us. We are more than happy to
talk to you about the Promise Zone, the eligibility requirements,
what you might need to do as a family in
order to become eligible or be eligible and you know
what those next steps for post secondary access are. So
(07:31):
we are happy to engage with families, you know, at
whatever stage they might be at.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
Yeah, you can learn more again at Grpromise Zone dot com.
If this child who is in high school lives in
the city of Grand Rapids, there are many high schools
that are eligible. I would think is it fair to
say most of the Grand Rapids high schools are eligible
for Promise edone scholarships.
Speaker 4 (07:55):
Yes, so as long as the high school is located
with with within the city of Grand Rapids. We have
our public schools, our public charter schools, and private schools
are all eligible.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
We're speaking, by the way, with Ashley Mischeler. Ashley is
director of the Grand Rapids Promise Zone and it's grpromise
Zone dot com. This is pretty impressive. I'm looking in
my well prepared notes here, Ashley that since the Promise
Zone program was started here in Grand Rapids, it has
supported nearly two thousand GRCC students. That's incredible.
Speaker 4 (08:29):
Yeah, yes, that is. We were very excited to have
that impact on our community as well as our students.
So yeah, almost two thousand students have walked through g
RCC stores with support from the Promise Zone.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
Okay, you've mentioned this, and I'm not trying to increase
your workload, but if people are hearing this conversation on
the radio and they've got a kid in high school
but they have more questions, you do have staff who
are available through Grpromise Zone dot Com to actually maybe
take a phone call or answer several emails, question back
and forth.
Speaker 4 (09:01):
Right, Yes, absolutely, we are happy to answer whatever questions.
Feel free to reach out, Like you said, give our
office a call, send us an email. Grpromise Zone dot
Com does have all of our contact information as well
as a web form, so you can fill out that
web form so you don't even need to remember anything
and we will get back to do as soon as
we can.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
Okay, a question about the transfer from Let's assume we're
talking about a student now who is in the Grand
Rapids Promise Zone and they have completed two years successfully
at GRCC. They're looking at potentially Ferris or Grand Valley,
and it's worth noting not to give any kind of
special favor to any.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
Of the two schools, but.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
There are an incredible breadth and depth of programs and
degrees offered between Fara State University and Grand Valley State University.
But let's talk about the process. Let's say a student
at the end of the winter semester, so this would
be in the spring of twenty twenty six getting to
(10:04):
graduate with an associate's degree from GVSU or I'm sorry,
from GRCC, but they want to go on to either
FARIS or GVSU.
Speaker 3 (10:12):
How do they engage with you and what happens next?
Speaker 4 (10:15):
Yeah, that's a great question. So we are still figuring
out the exact steps, but for the most part, we
are going to know when a student has applied to
graduate with their associate degree from GRCC, and so we
will be reaching out directly to those students that are
planning on graduating or have applied to graduate, So we
will be reaching out directly to them with those next steps.
(10:36):
But also we hope that our students are engaging with
our staff here on campus, so you know, they're regularly
meeting with us, so we're going to know when they're
ready and when they're planning on graduating too, so we
can have those conversations in person on campus or via
a zoom through an appointment. But yeah, so we will
be in touch with students to let them know what
those next steps are. If students are currently at those
(10:59):
four are your schools right now in our Promise Zone
and have graduated with their associate degree from GRCC, we
will be contacting them directly as well, letting them know
what those next steps will be.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
All right again, Grpromise Zone dot Comgrpromise Zone dot Com.
Here's the most important question for you, Ashley. In our
last minute or so, is there anything I didn't ask
you about you wanted to share with our listeners about
this new news.
Speaker 4 (11:25):
I think you pretty much covered everything other than you know,
we're just so excited for this new next phase of
the Promise Zone and so thankful to both Farris and
Grand Valley for stepping up and partnering with us. And
we're really just excited to see where this goes from here.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
Yeah, and I don't want to downplay mentioned this earlier.
I want to celebrate what is happening here, which is
you're making it easier for a lot of people to
be able to look seriously at affording college, especially a
four year degree. There are a lot of financial barriers
and the economy which can be different and tougher for
(12:01):
any family, any individual.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
It varies from home to home.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
This is really significant and exciting news, so I want
to celebrate you and your team and everybody involved gvsu
Fara State University and of course GRCC. Congratulations on this news.
And I think your web traffic is going to really
go through the roof after this conversation.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
So sorry, we're going to make you extra busy.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
But you know, it's just the price of the price
of fame, Ashley, Let's just put it that way.
Speaker 4 (12:32):
Seriously, you're so excited and ready for it.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
Well, I want to again thank you, congratulate you, and
again the website is Grpromise Zone dot com to engage
with Ashley and her team. Ashley Mischler, Grand Rapids Promise
Zone Director with us on this segment of West Michigan
Weekend from iHeartRadio. As always, Ashley, I appreciate your time,
Thank you, Thank you.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
You've been listening to iHeartRadio's West Michigan Weekend. West Michigan
Weekend is a production of Wood Radio and iHeartRadio
This is iHeartRadio's West Michigan Weekend. West Michigan Weekend is
a weekly program designed to inform and enlighten on a
wide range of public policy issues, as well as news
and current events. Now here's your host, Phil Tower.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
In this segment, I'm pleased to catch up with Ashley Mischler.
She is director of the Grand Rapids Promise Zone Scholarship
and she's on our liveline to talk about some exciting news.
A local scholarship program just announced a couple of weeks ago,
actually on Monday, September twenty second, making it easier for
(00:40):
Grand Rapid students to move from community college to a
four year degree. This is actually pretty exciting news. That's
why we brought in Ashley Mischler, Promise Zone director, to
talk about this, because, hey, this is exciting news. Is
not very often we get to talk about good news
here on the radio. So Ashley, first of all, thank
(01:01):
you for taking a couple of time, a couple of
moments do speak with it us about this exciting news.
Speaker 4 (01:08):
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Yeah, so I saw this news.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
I saw the press conference, some video of that on television.
This is a big deal because a lot of people
are involved, including Ferry State University and Grand Valley State
University here in Grand Rapids. But I think a lot
of people are familiar, Ashley with the name or the
term Grand Rapids Promise Zone and the scholarship, but they
(01:34):
may not really understand how it works, who's eligible. It's
actually been with us for roughly five years. So can
you give our listeners a recap of what the Grand
Rapids Promise Zone does and who's eligible for it?
Speaker 4 (01:49):
Absolutely? So, Like you mentioned, the Grand Rapets Promisone began
with the high school graduating class of twenty twenty, and
we are a scholarship and support programs for Grand Rapids students.
So what that means is that in order to be eligible,
students must reside within the actual city limits of Grand
Rapids and intend one of our twenty five eligible high schools,
(02:13):
as well as graduate from one of those eligible high schools.
So the residency piece and the high school attendance piece.
Students must do both of those things from eleventh grade
through high school graduation. And if they do, you know,
the living in Grand Rapids, attending an eligible school, and graduating,
they are automatically eligible for the scholarship. So We don't
(02:37):
have any GPA requirements or anything like that. The residency
and school attendance and graduation are what qualify students for
the scholarship. So, like you mentioned, we provide fundings for
students to attend GRCC for up to seventy two credit
hours attempted credit hours for free. We also give funding
(03:00):
for books and supplies as well as on campus expenses.
But more than just the money too, we also provide
support for our students. So we have a team of
people that are at our eligible high school supporting students
and families with a post secondary process. And then we
also have those supports here at GRCC as well, supporting
(03:22):
students through their academic journey here on campus. So not
only do we give money, we make sure that we
have our students have those wrap around supports as well.
And like you said, our exciting announcement is that we
are continuing funding for students to earn an associate degree
at GRCC. We're continuing some of that funding over at
the four year school so Grand Valley in Faris and
(03:45):
those two schools have also pitched in money, so students
still have a gap in tuition and fees after they
have used all of their federal and state aid and
that those promised and funds if there's still a gap
in those tuition and fs, those those two institutions have
so graciously partnered with us to provide even more money
for our students to make college even more affordable.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
Yeah, this is really cool I'm reading here. It says,
beginning in January of twenty twenty six, Promised owned students
become eligible for up to seven thousand dollars per academic
year at either Fair Estate or Grand Valley after earning
an associate's degree from GRCC. That funding can go toward tuition, fees,
(04:27):
on campus housing, a lot of things. This is fantastic news.
I mean, seven thousand dollars is that's a lot of
money and that can be extremely helpful, especially when I mean, Ashley,
let's you and I just acknowledge the obvious here on
the radio. College is expensive. So hats off to you
(04:49):
guys in Ferris and GVSU for realizing we need to
make this easier because people are really scrapping to help
their you know, parents are scrapping to help their kids
go to school. Even grandparents are getting involved. This is
you know, it takes the village to send a kid
to college and to pay for it. So this is
(05:10):
this is really cool and real quickly. The Grand Rapids
Promise Zone is actually one of thirteen promise zones in
what is known as the Michigan Promise Zone Association. Okay,
so the guy talking to you on the radio, I
didn't even know there was a Michigan Promise Zone Association.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
Yeah, interesting, talk about that.
Speaker 4 (05:30):
Yeah, So promise zones promisones that are through the state
of Michigan. There's thirteen of us, and we get together
regularly to help elevate the Promiszone message and collaborate when
we can to ensure that all Michigan Promiszone students have
access to higher education and support that they need in
order to go to college. So it's a really great
(05:52):
group of folks trying to make sure that our communities
are elevated. And you know, one way to do that
is through education.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
And you've got a terrific website.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
We want to mention at least a couple of times
during our conversation here on the radio. Grpromise Zone dot Com.
It's as easy as that Grpromise Zone dot Com. I
would think a lot of people if they've got a
junior or maybe even a sophomore in high school in
Grand Rapids or one of these other thirteen Promise Zones
(06:23):
in the Michigan Promise Zone Association, they want to begin
thinking about this process of taking an advantage for this
money that's out there, which is really tremendous. Let's focus
on Grand Rapids and people who are interested. They've got
a child in high school interested in going to GRCC,
(06:43):
maybe they're a sophomore, a junior. When can they begin
engaging with you in the Grand Rapids Promise Zone scholarship.
Speaker 4 (06:49):
They can begin engaging with us as early as they
would like. So, like I said, we have a team
of staff that are out in those thirteen high schools.
So on our website, like you mentioned gr promissone dot com,
under the contact us page, we have all of our
coordinators listed by high school. So even if your student
(07:10):
is in middle school, if you can kind of guess
maybe what high school they might attend, feel free to
reach out to us. We are more than happy to
talk to you about the Promise Zone, the eligibility requirements,
what you might need to do as a family in
order to become eligible or be eligible and you know
what those next steps for post secondary access are. So
(07:31):
we are happy to engage with families, you know, at
whatever stage they might be at.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
Yeah, you can learn more again at Grpromise Zone dot com.
If this child who is in high school lives in
the city of Grand Rapids, there are many high schools
that are eligible. I would think is it fair to
say most of the Grand Rapids high schools are eligible
for Promise edone scholarships.
Speaker 4 (07:55):
Yes, so as long as the high school is located
with with within the city of Grand Rapids. We have
our public schools, our public charter schools, and private schools
are all eligible.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
We're speaking, by the way, with Ashley Mischeler. Ashley is
director of the Grand Rapids Promise Zone and it's grpromise
Zone dot com. This is pretty impressive. I'm looking in
my well prepared notes here, Ashley that since the Promise
Zone program was started here in Grand Rapids, it has
supported nearly two thousand GRCC students. That's incredible.
Speaker 4 (08:29):
Yeah, yes, that is. We were very excited to have
that impact on our community as well as our students.
So yeah, almost two thousand students have walked through g
RCC stores with support from the Promise Zone.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
Okay, you've mentioned this, and I'm not trying to increase
your workload, but if people are hearing this conversation on
the radio and they've got a kid in high school
but they have more questions, you do have staff who
are available through Grpromise Zone dot Com to actually maybe
take a phone call or answer several emails, question back
and forth.
Speaker 4 (09:01):
Right, Yes, absolutely, we are happy to answer whatever questions.
Feel free to reach out, Like you said, give our
office a call, send us an email. Grpromise Zone dot
Com does have all of our contact information as well
as a web form, so you can fill out that
web form so you don't even need to remember anything
and we will get back to do as soon as
we can.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
Okay, a question about the transfer from Let's assume we're
talking about a student now who is in the Grand
Rapids Promise Zone and they have completed two years successfully
at GRCC. They're looking at potentially Ferris or Grand Valley,
and it's worth noting not to give any kind of
special favor to any.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
Of the two schools, but.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
There are an incredible breadth and depth of programs and
degrees offered between Fara State University and Grand Valley State University.
But let's talk about the process. Let's say a student
at the end of the winter semester, so this would
be in the spring of twenty twenty six getting to
(10:04):
graduate with an associate's degree from GVSU or I'm sorry,
from GRCC, but they want to go on to either
FARIS or GVSU.
Speaker 3 (10:12):
How do they engage with you and what happens next?
Speaker 4 (10:15):
Yeah, that's a great question. So we are still figuring
out the exact steps, but for the most part, we
are going to know when a student has applied to
graduate with their associate degree from GRCC, and so we
will be reaching out directly to those students that are
planning on graduating or have applied to graduate, So we
will be reaching out directly to them with those next steps.
(10:36):
But also we hope that our students are engaging with
our staff here on campus, so you know, they're regularly
meeting with us, so we're going to know when they're
ready and when they're planning on graduating too, so we
can have those conversations in person on campus or via
a zoom through an appointment. But yeah, so we will
be in touch with students to let them know what
those next steps are. If students are currently at those
(10:59):
four are your schools right now in our Promise Zone
and have graduated with their associate degree from GRCC, we
will be contacting them directly as well, letting them know
what those next steps will be.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
All right again, Grpromise Zone dot Comgrpromise Zone dot Com.
Here's the most important question for you, Ashley. In our
last minute or so, is there anything I didn't ask
you about you wanted to share with our listeners about
this new news.
Speaker 4 (11:25):
I think you pretty much covered everything other than you know,
we're just so excited for this new next phase of
the Promise Zone and so thankful to both Farris and
Grand Valley for stepping up and partnering with us. And
we're really just excited to see where this goes from here.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
Yeah, and I don't want to downplay mentioned this earlier.
I want to celebrate what is happening here, which is
you're making it easier for a lot of people to
be able to look seriously at affording college, especially a
four year degree. There are a lot of financial barriers
and the economy which can be different and tougher for
(12:01):
any family, any individual.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
It varies from home to home.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
This is really significant and exciting news, so I want
to celebrate you and your team and everybody involved gvsu
Fara State University and of course GRCC. Congratulations on this news.
And I think your web traffic is going to really
go through the roof after this conversation.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
So sorry, we're going to make you extra busy.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
But you know, it's just the price of the price
of fame, Ashley, Let's just put it that way.
Speaker 4 (12:32):
Seriously, you're so excited and ready for it.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
Well, I want to again thank you, congratulate you, and
again the website is Grpromise Zone dot com to engage
with Ashley and her team. Ashley Mischler, Grand Rapids Promise
Zone Director with us on this segment of West Michigan
Weekend from iHeartRadio. As always, Ashley, I appreciate your time,
Thank you, Thank you.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
You've been listening to iHeartRadio's West Michigan Weekend. West Michigan
Weekend is a production of Wood Radio and iHeartRadio
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