LANSING, Mich., Sept. 10, 2020 — Gov. Whitmer announced the official launch of Michigan’s Futures for Frontliners program today, providing a tuition-free pathway to higher education or a high school diploma for the essential and frontline workers that helped keep Michigan moving throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
“From first responders to grocery store clerks, Michiganders from across the state rose to the challenge to serve our communities during this pandemic,” said state Rep. Sheryl Kennedy (D-Davison). “A good education is the doorway to opportunity in our world, but the rising costs of tuition and supplies have left too many of our residents without the tools they need to succeed. This program is just one way we can begin to tear down these barriers and provide everyone a chance to receive the education they deserve.
“We owe an immense debt of gratitude to our frontline workers for their dedication and sacrifice as we move forward to a new reality, and it’s our turn to step up and make their dream of college a reality, too,” said state Rep. Sarah Anthony (D-Lansing). “Access to higher education or a job with a living wage should not just be for the wealthy, affluent or well-connected, which is precisely why this program is so important in our fight to build a strong, healthy and successful future for our state.”
The Futures for Frontliners program serves as an important extension of the MI Reconnect Program, a bipartisan initiative spearheaded by Gov. Whitmer and Reps. Anthony and Kennedy, which was signed into law earlier this year to provide a tuition-free pathway to higher education for Michigan adults. Reps. Anthony and Kennedy also lead a group of 26 House Democratic Legislative Champions of the program.
For more information and to apply for the program, frontline and essential workers are urged to visit Michigan.gov/Frontliners. Applications are due December 31, 2020.
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