NEODESHA ? Three hundred middle and high schoolers filed into their school auditorium last week in Neodesha, uncertain why they?d been called there.
They left cheering and hugging. Some of the older students were teary-eyed.
College tuition and fees need no longer hold back graduates of this manufacturing community, about halfway between Wichita and Joplin, Missouri. A wealthy donor hoping to turn around the fortunes of his dwindling hometown ? population 2,300 ? will foot those costs for the next 25 years, and possibly decades beyond that.
?I?m still in shock right now,? De?Jua Pouncil, a senior aiming to study dental hygiene at Wichita State University, said after the announcement. ?I?ve been really saving up for college. I know most of my classmates have been also saving up ? working real hard. And this is just a real relief off of our shoulders.?
Neodesha high schoolers react to news of the promise to pay for tuition. KANSAS NEWS SERVICE/CELIA LLOPIS-JEPSEN/KCUR.ORG
Translating this gift into economic growth for Neodesha won?t be easy. The donor and community leaders are banking on families moving here to qualify their kids for free tuition. The influx they envision would boost the local tax base, shore up the shrinking school district and bring more customers for everything from utilities to groceries.
But the town faces strong headwinds, experts say, including an affordable housing shortage. And even if Neodesha benefits, it may pull people away from other shrinking towns nearby.
?If you?re thinking about regional economic development,? said Matthew Sanderson, a Kansas State University sociologist who studies rural issues, ?at least at this stage, it looks more like a zero-sum game.?
Ben Cutler, left, is paying for the so-called Promise scholarships. He grew up in Neodesha and went on to a profitable career in finance and insurance. KANSAS NEWS SERVICE/CELIA LLOPIS-JEPSEN/KCUR.ORG
