一位朋友告诉艾米莉·奥利瓦雷斯（Emily Olivares），她付完四年大学学费后欠下了5万美元的债务，奥利瓦雷斯感到很惊讶。
"I almost had a heart attack," Olivares said. "That's a lot of money."
奥利瓦雷斯说，“我差点犯心脏病了，这可是很大一笔钱。”
She has no such problem.
她没有这种烦恼。
Her tuition for four years at Western Michigan University was about $40,000. But, a program called Kalamazoo Promise paid for it all.
她在西密歇根大学四年的学费大约是4万美元。但是，“卡拉马祖承诺计划”承担了所有学费。
Since 2006, a group of secret donors provided money so students who graduate from Kalamazoo public schools can attend a Michigan state college. The money pays tuition for students in part or fully.
自2006年以来，一群秘密捐助者提供了资金，这样卡拉马祖公立学校毕业生就能进入一所密歇根州立大学。这些资金为学生们承担全额或部分学费。
"I don't think I would be in the same place in life right now if it wasn't for this program," said the 22-year-old Olivares.
22岁的奥利瓦雷斯表示，“如果不是该计划，我不认为我能站到今天这个位置。”
She recently graduated from Western Michigan University, and works for Kalamazoo Promise. In the future, she hopes to set up international study programs for college students.
她最近从西密歇根大学毕业，并为“卡拉马祖承诺计划”工作。她希望未来能设立大学生国际研究项目。
Hillary Clinton's Proposed Tuition Program
希拉里·克林顿提出的学费计划
The Kalamazoo program is now getting more attention because of Hillary Clinton. The Democratic candidate for president is proposing a free tuition program for the entire country. Clinton wants to provide free state college tuition for families with yearly incomes of up to $125,000.
因为克林顿，卡拉马祖计划现在开始获得更多关注。这位民主党总统候选人提出了一项全国免学费计划。克林顿想要为年收入最高为12.5万美元的家庭免除州立大学学费。
Republican Donald Trump's campaign website does not list a plan on college tuition. However, last year, Trump told The Hill newspaper that the federal government should not profit on student loans and should allow students to lower the amount of interest they pay.
共和党人唐纳德·川普（Donald Trump）的竞选网站并没有列出大学学费方案。去年，川普对《国会山庄报》表示，联邦政府不应该从学生贷款中盈利，并且应该降低学生们支付的利息总额。
In Kalamazoo, the tuition aid program is praised as a program that makes a difference in the small city in America's Midwest. Kalamzoo has a population of 76,000 and is halfway between the cities of Chicago, Illinois and Detroit, Michigan.
该助学计划在卡拉马祖被誉为是让这个美国中西部小城市与众不同的一个计划。卡拉马祖有7.6万人口，位置位于伊利诺伊州芝加哥市和密歇根州底特律市之间。
Bob Jorth is the Kalamazoo Promise executive director. He said the city has about 25 percent more students attending college than it did 10 years ago, when the program began.
Bob Jorth是“卡拉马祖承诺计划”的执行董事。他说，当该助学计划启动时，该市就读大学的学生比十年前增加了25%左右。
Kalamazoo is sending about 85 percent of its high school graduates to college. That percentage, Jorth said, is similar to the rate in much wealthier communities.
卡拉马祖将该市大约85%的高中毕业生送入了大学。Jorth表示，这和更富裕社区的升学比例接近。
Research Group Says Promise Program Has Limits
研究组织称卡拉马祖承诺计划有局限
But the Brookings Institution research group said in a 2015 report that the program has limitations. It found that only twenty percent of African-American high school graduates earned college degrees six years after graduation. Brookings said the overall college degree average for the city's public school graduates was forty percent.
但是布鲁金斯学会研究小组在2015年的一份报告中表示，该项目有局限性。该小组发现，只有20%的非洲裔美国高中毕业生在毕业六年后拿到了大学学位。布鲁金斯学会研究小组表示，该市公立学校毕业生获得大学学位的平均比例为40%。
What it shows, Brookings said, is that Kalamazoo "has not yet come close to resolving the problem of inequality of opportunity" for African-American children.
布鲁金斯学会研究小组表示，这表明卡拉马祖计划尚未接近解决非洲裔美国儿童的机会不均等问题。
But several Kalamazoo Promise students said the program made a big difference for them.
但是一些卡拉马祖承诺计划的学生表示，该计划对他们具有重要作用。
Twenty-one-year-old Tinashe Chaponda is now attending Western Michigan University with a lot of help from Kalamazoo Promise
21岁的Tinashe Chaponda在卡拉马祖承诺计划的大力协助下目前在西密歇根大学就读。
Not having to pay full tuition, means he does not have to spend his free time working at a paid job, Chaponda said. It has freed him to set up a non-profit group to help place students with groups needing volunteers.
Chaponda表示，无需支付全额学费意味着他不需要在空闲时间打工。这让他得以成立一家非营利性组织帮助学生进入需要志愿者的组织。
Chaponda came to Michigan from Zimbabwe in time to start 8th grade in Kalamazoo's school system. Today, he gets 70 percent of his tuition covered. Students who attend Kalamazoo public schools for all 12 years get their entire Michigan state college tuition covered.
Chaponda从津巴布韦来到密歇根州，当时开始在卡拉马祖学校系统读8年级。如今他被免除了70%的学费。在卡拉马祖公立学校完成全部12年学业的学生将免除就读西密歇根大学的全部学费。
Chaponda said his goal is to return to Zimbabwe some day and run for president of the southern African country.
Chaponda表示，他的目标是某天回到津巴布韦竞选这个南部非洲国家的总统。
"The Promise program allows me to focus on college and still have extra time to start my non-profit," Chaponda said. "I feel if people are investing in me, the least I can do is give back to the community in some way."
Chaponda说，“该计划使我可以把重心放在上大学上面，并且还有额外时间来开办我的非营利组织。我觉得如果有人在我身上投资，我至少可以做的就是用某种方式回报社区。”
Other Cities Offer Tuition Aid
其它城市提供助学金
Kalamazoo is not the only place with free- or reduced-cost tuition for public school graduates.
卡拉马祖并非唯一一个为公立学校毕业生提供学费减免的地方。
The Upjohn Institute for Employment Research reported that about 30 U.S. communities have created similar programs. One of the largest is in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
厄普约翰就业研究所报告称，大约有30个美国社区已经创建了类似计划。其中最大的一个在宾夕法尼亚州匹兹堡市。
The Upjohn Institute studied graduation rates in Kalamazoo in 2015. It said there was a 12 percent increase in people earning college degrees within six years of high school graduation.
厄普约翰就业研究所研究了2015年卡拉马祖的毕业率。该研究所表示，该市在高中毕业6年内获得大学学位的人士增加了12%。
The U.S. Education Department says that is important for economic reasons. People who graduate from college in America earn $1 million more, over their lifetime, than those who only graduated from high school.
美国教育部表示，出于经济原因来说这非常重要。美国大学毕业生终生所赚比高中生多出1百万美元。
The Promise program also means Kalamazoo public school graduates can attend state colleges without owing a lot of money. The average student debt for 2016 college graduates is $37,000, according to the website, StudentLoanHero.com.
该计划还意味着卡拉马祖公立学校毕业生不用背负巨债就能就读州立大学。根据StudentLoanHero.com网站提供的数据，2016年美国大学毕业生平均学生负债为3.7万美元。
Not everyone supports the idea of free tuition. Norbert Michel, writing for the conservative Heritage Foundation, said free tuition can lead to higher education costs.
不是所有人都支持免学费的想法。为保守派传统基金会撰文的诺伯特·米歇尔（Norbert Michel）表示，免学费会带来更高的教育费用。
"The core problem is that they remove the paying customer -- in this case the student -- from the equation," Michel said. If students and their parents are paying they will work to keep costs down, he said.
米歇尔表示，“核心问题是他们把付费客户从等式中删除了，这里的付费用户是指学生。”他说，如果学生和家长付费，他们会努力把成本降下来。
Students Know 'This Is Something Special'
学生们知道“这是特殊待遇”
Michael Rice is superintendent of Kalamazoo Public Schools. He said, teachers start talking about the program in early in a student's education.
迈克尔·赖斯（Michael Rice）是卡拉马祖公立学校的管理者。他说，教师们在学生的早期教育中就开始谈到该计划。
"By sixth grade students understand that this is something special and unique," Rice said. He said the program has helped increase test scores for students who know they and their families will be able to afford college.
赖斯，“6年级以前的学生都明白，这是一种特殊待遇。”他说，该计划已经帮助了那些知道他们和他们的家庭将能够承担起大学学费的学生提高考试成绩。
Jorth said it is too early to say what will happen to the program he leads if Clinton is elected and gets her tuition plan approved by Congress.
Jorth表示，现在要谈如果克林顿当选总统并且她的学费计划被国会通过，会对“卡拉马祖承诺计划”有什么影响尚为时过早。
When Kalamazoo Promise was announced in late 2005, a press release said the donors wanted to give people a reason to remain in Kalamazoo or move to the city. They also wanted a more educated workforce. But the press release did not say who the donors are.
当卡拉马祖承诺计划于2005年底宣布之时，一份新闻稿称，捐助者想要给人们一个留在或搬到卡拉马祖的理由。他们还想要获得受过更多教育的劳动力。但是该新闻稿并未说出谁是捐助者。
Since then, Jorth said local residents have been trying to guess who in Kalamazoo has enough money to provide the $80 million given the program since 2006.
Jorth表示，此后当地居民一直在试图猜测卡拉马祖谁有足够实力承担该项目从2006年起的8千万美元资金。
The secret donors make Jorth's job pretty special. He may be one of the few people who can say, "I don't know who I work for."
这些秘密捐助者使得Jorth的工作非常特殊。他可能是少数几位可以号称“我不知道我为谁工作”的人。
I'm Bruce Alpert.
我是布鲁斯·阿尔珀特。(51VOA.COM对本文翻译保留全部权利，未经授权请勿转载，违者必究！)