Essential workers to get free college under new Whitmer plan – Detroit Free Press
Essential workers in Michigan would be eligible for free college under a new plan being proposed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
The plan, modeled on the GI Bill, would pay for college for those front-line workers who don’t have a college degree, Whitmer said in announcing it Wednesday. Those eligible would be workers “like the ones staffing our hospitals and nursing homes, stocking the shelves at grocery stores, providing child care to critical infrastructure workers, manufacturing PPE, protecting public safety, picking up trash or delivering supplies,” the state said in the announcement.
The plan is being called Futures for Frontliners. It is being billed as the first-such program in the nation.
Details about the program, how people would apply for it or how much it would cost were not immediately released. Whitmer said the state would use federal grant money to pay the costs.
“The Futures for Frontliners program is our way of saying ‘thank you’ to those who have risked their lives on the front lines of this crisis,” Whitmer said in a statement. “This program will ensure tuition-free college opportunities and give these dedicated Michiganders an opportunity to earn a technical certificate, associate degree or even a bachelor’s degree.