Created in 1998 and revised in 2013, The Detroit Promise program offers students who both live and go to a school of any kind (public, charter, private, etc.) in Detroit a tuition-free path to an associate degree, bachelor’s degree, or technical certificate at 32 Michigan colleges.
But there are hundreds of students that live outside of the district making them ineligible for the program.
Particularly Highland Park students.
Of Highland Park’s 11,776 residents, 29.1% are under the age of 18.
Highland Park Community High School officially closed at the end of the 2014–2015 school year. The closure was caused by persistent financial deficits and a drop in enrollment to roughly 160 students. Since then, most of these students attend a school in another district.
“The school system was probably one of the greatest in the country,” former Mayor Hubert Yopp, who graduated from Highland Park High School in 1962, told the Michigan Chronicle in a previous interview. “When you graduated from Highland Park High School, it was equal to having a couple years of college. And, if you graduated from the high school, you had two free years at the Highland Park Junior College, one of the nation’s first two-year institutions of higher learning.”
“As the district does not presently operate a high school, Highland Park students currently must enroll in other districts for their secondary education,” notes Aaron Bodus Communications Strategist. “Many of the districts they do attend have promise scholarships of their own, but as residents of Highland Park, they are not eligible to apply.”
Demonstrating its commitment to helping city residents maximize their education potential, the School District of the City of Highland Park’s (HSPD) voted 6-1 to establish the Highland Park Promise Scholarship. The award will provide postsecondary financial support to every graduating high school senior who calls Highland Park home.
HPSD Chief Education Officer Isaiah Pettway hailed the establishment of the Highland Park Promise.
“I am immensely pleased with the Board of Education’s vision in establishing the Highland Park Promise Scholarship,” Pettway said. “Our district has been vocal about its commitment to putting Children First, and this is a tangible example of that pledge. We want every Highland Park student to know that this community is firmly invested in their future, no matter where their diploma comes from.”
The program will initially be funded through the district’s restricted student activities fund, a resource pool established to carry forward the legacy scholarships and gifts that existed when HPSD operated as a traditional district.
Looking ahead, the Board intends to appropriate a percentage of its annual fund surplus, along with community fundraising efforts, to sustain and grow the Highland Park Promise. Additionally, the Board plans to increase the scholarship amount for students who graduate from an HPSD-operated high school once the district reestablishes one.
The news is promising and shows growth in the district. In November 2025, HPSD officially eliminated its operating deficit seven years ahead of initial estimates. This positions the district to expand its offerings and reinvest in the community.
