We might have expected much of the general approach Gov. Gretchen Whitmer took to her first budget, announced this week, by her campaign platform. Certainly a number of proposals like pulling School Aid Fund out of the universities’ budget were expected based on her platform planks. But I think there are other lessons to be learned about our state’s next …
In Their Quest to Advance Michigan, New State Leaders Should Prioritize Talent Development
An earlier version of this commentary originally appeared in Bridge Magazine The world of work has changed over the last 20 years. It’s vital that Michigan change with it. That means placing a priority on investing in education that can provide the talent needed to attract and retain good paying jobs. The $25-an-hour factory job is no longer the driver …
The Connection Between Educational Attainment and Earnings, Amplified by the Four-Year College Degree
In her State of the State Address, Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced an ambitious and much-needed goal for Michigan to increase its postsecondary education attainment level to 60 percent by 2030, as measured by the proportion of Michiganders with a college degree or high-quality certificate. It’s good that the Governor recognizes the link between state income and education levels. It’s even …
Metrics that Matter: Michigan’s Higher Ed Funding Lags in the Midwest
The extent to which state governments invest in their public colleges and universities and in their student financial aid programs has a direct impact on access to and affordability of a college degree. Greater state investment mitigates the need for colleges to raise tuition prices. Affordable colleges boost the capacity of states to increase the educational levels of their populations. …
The conservative argument for state investment in public higher education – in one chart
The leaders of Michigan’s 15 public universities, joined by the staff of the Michigan Association of State Universities, have long touted the personal return on investment a student earns with a four-year college degree. We’ve also long talked about the benefits that accrue to the state and to society when it makes public higher education an investment priority. And in …
Data Over Dogma: Facts Matter
Universities are many things to many people—classrooms, workforce development engines, research and development institutions, and beacons of civic pride. But universities are also an ancient endeavor, created in something close to their current form at the University of Bologna in 1088, predating the modern nation-state by 560 years. In those intervening 929 years, one thing has remained constant: the teaching …
Michigan’s Demographics Must Not Determine its Destiny
Michigan’s economy is continuing to grow, enabling it to compete vigorously on the national and global stage. That’s the good news. The bad news? The state’s most important economic input—maintaining and growing a talented workforce—will be increasingly challenged by a declining population of young adults. Michigan will have the third largest percentage decline of high school graduates in the U.S. …
An Unenviable #1 Ranking for the State of Michigan
The annual accounting of states’ investment in student financial aid was recently released, showing that financial aid across all states increased by 5.7 percent in the 2014-15 academic year, the most recent year for which data are available. The 46th Annual Survey Report on State-Sponsored Student Financial Aid, produced by the National Association of State Student Grant and Aid Programs …