Higher Education System Characteristics and History

Constitutional Autonomy
State Board of Education
Comunity Colleges
Four-Year Public Institutions
Presidents Council
Tuition
Independent Colleges
Financial Aid

 

There are 109 institutions of higher education in the state: 15 public four-year institutions, 30 public two-year institutions (including one tribally controlled community college), 56 private four-year institutions, and 8 private two-year institutions. Total enrollments include approximately 551,000 students by head count. Public four-year institutions account for 47 percent of total enrollment, public two-year institutions enroll 38 percent, and the independent colleges and universities enroll 15 percent. Enrollment has declined somewhat between 1991 and 1995; it is down by 1.2 percent at the four-year institutions and by 6.7 percent at the two-year institutions. This enrollment decline is due primarily to decreasing numbers of high school graduates. The state expects relatively stable enrollment growth over the next decade or so, with a 13 percent increase in the number of high school graduates projected between 1996 and 2006, compared to an increase nationally of 20 percent.

Each of Michigan's public institutions has its own governing board (with the exception of the University of Michigan's two branch campuses at Flint and Dearborn, which are governed by the same board as the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor). All boards have nine members, including the institutional president who serves as an ex-officio member. Other board members serve eight-year terms. The boards of the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, and Wayne State University are elected by the public in statewide elections. The Governor appoints the board members governing the rest of the public four-year institutions. Each of the public two-year community colleges has a regionally elected governing board.

As Table 3 indicates, Michigan is about average relative to the seven states in this study with regard to participation in higher education among new high school graduates. The state has the highest percentage of students enrolled in public four-year institutions per 1,000 population among the study states, and average undergraduate, graduate and professional enrollments per 1,000 population. This indicates a possible change among generations in the emphasis on higher education; the percentage of the entire population that has completed a degree is low, yet the enrollment levels now are high.

Table 3
System Characteristics for Michigan Compared to Selected States

(Numbers in Parentheses Represent Rank Among the Seven Study States)
System Characteristics
High
(1-2)
Average
(3-5)
Low
(6-7)
U.S.
Average
Total Degree-Granting Institutions (1994-95)
109 (7)
Public Four-Year Institutions (1994-95)
15 (5)
Public Two-Year Institutions (1994-95)
30 (6)
% of Enrollment in Public Institutions (1994)
84.6 (3)
78.0
FTE Students per 1,000 Population (Public Institutions Only) (1995-96)*
33.1 (2)
31.8
Participation Ratio: Public FTE Students per New High School Graduate (1995-96)*
3.41 (4)
3.37
% High School Graduates Going on to Higher Education Anywhere (1994)?
60.6 (3)
57.3
State Appropriations plus Tuition Revenues per FTE Student (1995-96)*
$9,057 (1)
$7,020
Sources: Unless otherwise noted, data are drawn from Chronicle of Higher Education Almanac (September 1996), p. 67.
* Halstead, State Profiles: Trend Data (1996), pp. 45, 48.
* Halstead, Higher Education Report Card 1995 (Washington D.C.: Research Associates of Washington, 1996), p. 61.

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Constitutional Autonomy

Michigan differs from the rest of our study states in that it has no statewide agency, board or commission responsible for the coordination of higher education, and all four-year institutions have constitutional autonomy. Constitutional autonomy provides for vesting of exclusive management and control of the institution in the governing board.

In 1850, the University of Michigan was granted constitutional autonomy, making it the first institution in the country to be accorded such status. This was primarily the result of many years of political interference in the operation of the university, including legislative and gubernatorial involvement in the selection and removal of the faculty. Michigan's language regarding constitutional autonomy, which can be found in all four state constitutions, is designed to keep the Legislature from getting involved in areas considered to be the domain of the faculty and university administration.

In 1963, Michigan rewrote its constitution and once again included constitutional status for all universities in the state. Article VIII, Section III states, "The power of the institutions of higher education provided in this constitution to supervise their respective institutions and control and direct the expenditures of the institutions funds shall not be limited to this section." Based on this language, individual boards have the power to set tuition and to determine how their state appropriations will be spent.

While reaffirming the autonomous status of institutions, the language of the 1963 constitution also reflects a shift toward the demands for greater public accountability for higher education, with several new provisions: the state Board of Education would be charged with "planning and coordinating" the educational policies of those institutions with constitutional status (though in such a way as not to impinge on that autonomy); the Legislature would be given an annual accounting of all income and expenditures; the Governor could reduce institutional expenditures in the event state revenues fell short of estimates on which the appropriations were made; formal meetings of the institutional governing boards would be open to the public; and the state auditor would be given the power to audit the books of universities that were accorded constitutional status.

The Constitution also gives the State Board of Education responsibility for leadership and general supervision of community colleges. It does, however, affirm that community colleges shall be supervised and controlled by locally elected boards.

During the 1960s, when many states were creating centralized state coordinating or governing agencies, Michigan resisted organizing its higher education services into a centralized system. One university administrator speculated that Michigan retained autonomy for its institutions in the 1960s in part because of the "battles" between the University of Michigan (U of M) and Michigan State University (MSU) in the middle of the century. While Michigan State might have been willing to organize with other institutions into an overall system of higher education, the University of Michigan did not want such a system, and did not want MSU to have that kind of political clout either. Others speculate that the main reason for preserving autonomous campuses while other states were developing consolidated systems was that those responsible for developing the constitution felt very strongly about keeping the state's institutions of higher education separate and autonomous.

On many occasions, the universities have gone to the court to preserve their autonomous status. One major result of these court decisions is that the Supreme Court has told the state Board of Education that it has no authority over public institutions of higher education.

According to many individuals we interviewed, the autonomous status of institutions in Michigan gives presidents a great deal of power. A legislator commented that the system has been able to attract very qualified candidates for president because of their relative independence. It is important, he said, that the presidents "know that they are essentially the boss, that they don't have to report to a higher, system-level agency or to more than one coordinating board." At the same time, however, presidents are more vulnerable in Michigan, more at-risk because they have no system office or board to insulate them. "There is no place to hide," said one president.

Individuals we interviewed were very proud of the autonomy of their institutions, and cited this often as a unique characteristic of higher education in the state. The conventional view in the state is that systems do not work, and that Michigan is much better off without the added layer of bureaucracy. A university president suggested, however, that while constitutional autonomy may be valuable for the "big three" institutions (the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Wayne State University), it is somewhat dysfunctional for the comprehensive institutions. "The state cannot control growth of programs at those institutions," he argued, and this is problematic from a statewide perspective.

At least according to some in Michigan, autonomy can lead to inefficiencies and to many duplicative programs. We were told that the proliferation of programs is most problematic in the area of doctoral degrees; there used to be four public institutions in the state that offered doctorates, and now there are eight. The Legislature could stop this, either through intent language in the budget bill or funding directed toward undergraduate education, but they do not. Institutions are free to develop and offer new programs as they wish, and the only limits on implementing new programs are those that are driven by the "market."

In fact, advocates of the Michigan structure seem to be true believers in the power of the "market" to take care of inefficiencies such as duplication of programs. While almost everyone admits that there is more duplication than is desirable in the state, there appears to be little concern about this. "Market forces in Michigan control both enrollment and the number of programs," said one political staff member, echoing the sentiments of many of our respondents. Most of those we interviewed believe that the market is also a good check on duplication of programs. If the need for the program is not there, many respondents said, students will not come and the program will eliminate itself.

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State Board of Education

The closest Michigan comes to a statewide agency for higher education is the state Board of Education. The board includes eight members who are chosen in statewide elections. Members serve eight-year terms, and the Governor serves as an ex-officio, nonvoting member. The board, which in 1995-96 consisted of six Republicans and two Democrats, appoints the superintendent of public instruction.

According to the Michigan Constitution of 1963, the state Board of Education "shall serve as the general planning and coordinating body for all public education, including higher education, and shall advise the Legislature as to the financial requirements in connection therewith." While these functions are stipulated in the constitution, the past 30 years have provided numerous examples of how the courts view this as somewhat contrary to the notion of institutional autonomy. After the adoption of the 1963 constitution, the Board of Education tried to get involved in several areas of planning and coordinating. The superintendent at the time tried to assert the board's authority to gather information about and exercise control over the number of out-of-state students and program duplication.

According to many people we interviewed, the institutions, often through their voluntary associations, challenged every attempt of the state board to fulfill these planning and coordinating responsibilities. One of the most commonly cited legal cases is the Salman Decision in 1975, in which the courts found that the University of Michigan does not need approval of the state Board of Education to expand or establish programs or departments, or to expand branch campuses. Essentially, this decision limited the authority of the state board to advising the Legislature concerning requests for funds. As a result of this and other similar cases, the planning and coordinating activities of the state Board of Education are essentially nonexistent for higher education.

Although the board does not have much authority with regard to higher education in general, whatever authority it does have has been further limited by the actions of the current Governor and the Republican Legislature, according to some of those we interviewed. The state board has been affected by the Governor's effort to eliminate bureaucracy, as the budget appropriation for the board was cut by almost 60 percent in fiscal year 1995.

Interestingly, the state board has more authority over the independent institutions than it does over the public colleges and universities. Independent colleges and universities operate under charters from the state; when an institution wants to change its charter (to add a degree level), it must petition the state board. Public institutions do not need to go through such a procedure.

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Community Colleges

Michigan's community colleges enroll approximately 208,000 students. Community colleges currently serve about 80 percent of the state's population (there are no colleges in some service districts). Each college has its own regionally elected governing board.

While the percentages vary from college to college, community colleges receive about 30 percent of their funding from local property taxes, about 34 percent from state funds, and about 32 percent from tuition.

There are two statewide agencies serving the community colleges. The first is the Michigan Community College Association, a statewide association that represents the colleges, each of which contributes funds for membership. The principal role of the association is legislative advocacy. Lobbying the Legislature through a single statewide organization is necessary, we were told, because of the relatively small size of state appropriations to community colleges; in fiscal year 1996, the state appropriation for all community colleges was less than the state appropriation for Michigan State University alone. The community colleges believe that they enhance their political clout by negotiating with the Legislature as a group instead of lobbying on their own.

The Community College Association also facilitates information sharing and provides in-service professional development programs for trustees. According to one college president, the association fosters voluntary coordination among colleges even though there is no formal mechanism for collaboration and communication. The limited resources in the state, he said, force colleges to coordinate services.

The second statewide agency is the Community College Board, which was created in the 1963 constitution as an advisory body to the state Board of Education. The board has the power to approve programs that will receive federal funding, such as the Carl Perkins Funds. Community colleges, therefore, collect and report information to the department regularly to ensure their eligibility for federal money. The board's role, according to one president, is "minimal at best," and "That is best."

The Community College Board is quickly losing the little influence it has had in Michigan. One reason is that prior to 1978, the board was responsible for allocating the lump-sum state appropriation to each of the community colleges. Institutional funding is now based on a formula, and the allocation function of the board has been stripped. In addition, the board has experienced severe funding cuts, and the Governor has eliminated all per-diem expenses for board members, effectively reducing the number of meetings that the board holds. Currently, the board meets only three times a year, and according to one staff member, even that is about to end. At the time of our visit there were three vacancies on the eight-member board.

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Four-Year Public Institutions

There are 15 public four-year institutions in Michigan, enrolling approximately 260,000 students (see Table 4).

Table 4
Enrollment at Four-Year Public Institutions, Fall 1995
Institution
Enrollment
Institution
Enrollment
Central Michigan University
23,575
Oakland University
13,600
Eastern Michigan University
23,142
Saginaw Valley State Univ.
7,285
Ferris State University
9,767
Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor
36,687
Grand Valley State University
13,887
Univ. of Michigan, Dearborn
2,136
Lake Superior State Univ.
3,437
Univ. of Michigan, Flint
6,312
Michigan State University
40,647
Wayne State University
32,149
Michigan Technological Univ.
6,390
Western Michigan University
26,537
Northern Michigan University
7,442
Source: Michigan Department of Education. "Fall 1995 Enrollment: Universities," Integrated Postsecondary Education System (IPEDS) database, Lansing, 1996.

Michigan's four-year public institutions vary widely in size and mission. Three large research universities (the University of Michigan, Michigan State and Wayne State) each enroll over 30,000 students and offer the full range of graduate and undergraduate programs. Western Michigan University is classified under the Carnegie Classification of Colleges and Universities as a doctoral I institution, and the rest of the institutions are general comprehensive universities, four of which offer the doctorate. Michigan Technological University, which focuses on engineering, is the one specialized institution.

Many of the individuals we interviewed described a certain "pecking order" that exists for institutions of higher education in the state. This hierarchy, which places the University of Michigan at the top, followed by Michigan State and Wayne State, is generally "accepted and understood," according to most individuals we spoke with. The acceptance of this hierarchy has helped to keep the amount of bickering among institutions down, at least until this past year. According to several respondents, presidents generally maintain a united front as long as the status quo and pecking order are maintained.

Constitutional autonomy and the lack of any statewide governing mechanism gives faculty much more power in Michigan, according to many of our respondents. Faculty have greater influence, said one president, because they only have to sway the president and the board. There are fewer end runs because there are no higher-level boards to which the faculty must go. Most of Michigan's four-year faculties are unionized, but the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Grand Valley State University are exceptions.

Faculty groups have limited visibility at the state level. While faculty unions have the opportunity to present information to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, the faculty voice is minimal in the state policy-making process. According to some of the politicians we met with, unions have less influence now because of the shift in control of the Legislature from Democrats to Republicans. In today's environment, said one legislator, unions "do not have as much clout."

Research Universities

In discussing public four-year institutions in the state, many people separate the "big three" (Michigan State, University of Michigan, and Wayne State) from the rest. According to one university board member, what happens particularly at Michigan and Michigan State tends to spill over into public perceptions of higher education generally. This is due in part to the size of these institutions and to the fact that elected, rather than appointed, governing boards "elevates" the autonomy of these institutions.

Board members of the big three institutions are elected to eight-year terms. There are concerns that individuals elected to boards are often more representative of their particular special interest than they are interested in higher education; by and large, however, most people feel that once elected, the board members have been able to set partisan politics aside and serve as "statesmen" for their institution.

Circumstances at the University of Michigan (U of M) at the time of our visit brought the issue of elected boards to the public's attention. After the 1994 elections, the U of M board consisted of four Republicans and four Democrats. The Republicans were representatives of the far-right, while the Democrats were backed by the unions. As a result, there was gridlock within the board, which resulted in the inability to elect a chair for over a year.

In October of 1995, the president of the U of M surprised many in the higher education community by announcing his resignation. While he did not say so, many speculate that the infighting among his board, and his inability to get the board to move, contributed to his decision to resign.

Governor Engler has taken the president's resignation as a sign of problems with elected boards, and is using this event to call for the appointment, rather than election, of all higher education boards. Until the president's resignation, appointed versus elected boards was not a public issue.

The University of Michigan

The University of Michigan is the "flagship" institution in the state, considered one of the best public research institutions in the country. It enrolls over 36,000 students in its highly selective undergraduate and graduate programs, attracting students from across the state, country, and world. In fiscal year 1996, the University of Michigan received about $288 million from state appropriations. Depending on which revenues are counted (whether or not auxiliary enterprises are included), this ranges from 10 to 37 percent of the institution's total revenues.

The University of Michigan has spearheaded many of the battles in the courts to preserve its autonomy (and that of other institutions). According to one long-time observer of Michigan higher education, these suits have been over "long-standing, substantive issues of conflict between the university and the state." The university is currently suing the state over its sunshine laws, challenging the open meetings act for the "big three" institutions.

Michigan State University

Michigan State University, located just outside of the state capitol in East Lansing, is the largest institution in the state-with over 40,000 students enrolled in 1995. Over 30,000 of these students are undergraduates. As the state's land-grant institution, Michigan State provides a wide array of undergraduate, master's and doctoral programs, including several programs in agriculture and natural resources. In 1995, the president, concerned with rising costs to students, instituted a tuition guarantee which said tuition would not increase by more than the rate of inflation, as long as state appropriations kept pace with inflation. MSU received approximately $256 million in state funding in fiscal year 1996.

Wayne State University

Located in Detroit, Wayne State University (WSU) differs from the other two research universities in the state in that it is located in an urban center. The university's 30,000-plus students are from very diverse backgrounds. WSU has a larger percentage of students from low-income and minority backgrounds than any of the other four-year institutions. Tuition at WSU is lower than in the other research institutions, and even lower than in some of the comprehensive institutions. The president has argued that if tuition increases too rapidly, the institution will lose enrollments and ultimately lose revenues. Unlike the other "big three" institutions, Wayne State has a unionized faculty, and union-administration relations are said to be a constant source of tension on campus. Wayne State received approximately $205 million dollars in state appropriations in fiscal year 1996.

Regional Universities

Michigan's regional universities include many doctoral, comprehensive, and liberal arts institutions located throughout the state. These institutions receive significantly less money from the state than the "big three"; in fiscal year 1996, state appropriations to the regional institutions ranged from $98 million at Western Michigan University to $11 million at Lake Superior State University.

Many of our respondents argued that because of the autonomy of individual institutions, the Michigan system produces a creative university community that is responsive to the needs of the educational market. The regional universities are said to be especially responsive. According to one interviewee, "Individual institutions have been able to develop their own character, to cultivate their own mission" in response to student and economic needs. There is competition for students among these regional institutions, another respondent argued, but that competition makes for better institutions. "We don't want to keep an institution from getting out of a category" because of some artificial constraints, said one university administrator.

One example of this responsiveness can be found in the establishment of an evening MBA program in Lansing by Western Michigan University (WMU), which is located in Kalamazoo. Michigan State, which is in East Lansing, was not interested in offering an evening MBA program; WMU, however, saw a demand for such a program, and set up shop in Lansing. Demand for the program proved high enough that MSU eventually decided to offer the same type of program, resulting in two evening MBA programs in Lansing.

Those arguing against the "creativity" of institutions and the capacity of the institutions to develop their own missions have pointed to the duplication of programs and a "mission creep" where every institution wants to be like the University of Michigan or Michigan State. There is no mechanism, except for the budget, for keeping institutions from offering new kinds of degrees or for duplicating what is offered by their neighbor. Some we spoke with argued that this is wasteful and produces institutions that have no real focus and no real expertise; others said that the market takes care of duplication-that if there is no market for a program, an institution will not be able to maintain it. In general, however, those who admit that there is duplication and waste are not too concerned about it; they still think that this is less costly and more effective than a bureaucratic structure designed to control duplication and costs.

Universities have begun to extend their reach beyond their traditional geographic service areas, a practice that is viewed by some as a significant benefit and by others as evidence of the need for greater coordination. University centers are being developed with the intention of extending the range of opportunities for the bachelor's of science degree and for master's level work. In some cases, it is possible to earn a bachelor's degree without attending the main campus of the institution granting the degree.

Supporters of the centers suggested that the universities are extending services into communities where the programs and services have not been offered previously, and therefore are providing a key statewide benefit. A critic of this process argued that this has become a free-for-all, where institutions can expand all over the state, regardless of need. No one decides who can set up a center and where, he argued, and as a result, there is an increasing problem with duplication.

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Presidents Council

The four-year public institutions in Michigan have established a voluntary organization known as the Presidents Council. The council began in the late 1940s, when presidents of many of the state's colleges and universities met informally to discuss the challenges facing higher education in the state. The council was formally established in 1952.

The presidents of the 15 public four-year institutions provide overall direction for council activities. In addition, there is an extensive committee structure, through which provosts, academic deans, business officers, governmental relations officers, etc., gather to discuss particular policy and programmatic issues.

The council's roles include: developing positions on the state budget for higher education; reviewing and monitoring legislation affecting higher education; collecting and disseminating data, reviewing academic programs, and interacting with state agencies and organizations. The council operates, according to its executive director, within the "unique context of Michigan and its autonomous institutions." The council serves as a referee among institutions that want to offer services in the same locale, and through its lobbying efforts tries to ensure that community colleges do not become upper-division institutions.

There are some disagreements among the various participants in the Michigan system as to the role the Presidents Council plays. One president we spoke with described the council as a "forum" but not much else. It is important for the presidents to gather, he said, because there are issues that must be resolved that do not necessarily affect the institutions directly or significantly. He cited the State Postsecondary Review Entities (SPRE) and the grants for Native American students as examples of the kinds of issues the council handles effectively. He went on to say that the council works well together on these types of issues, but that there is no common ground when it comes to questions of allocation of funding. Presidents do not necessarily have common goals and missions, he said, so the role the group can play is limited. He said that it is a forum for solving immediate problems, but other than that, the council does not play a very important role.

One political staff member agreed with this assessment, arguing that the universities use the Presidents Council for those issues that benefit them, but that they prefer to stand by themselves on most issues. This staff member noted that all institutions have a substantial lobbying presence in Lansing and do not rely on the council to speak for them.

An authority on the organization of state higher education, however, argued that the Council-as the only vehicle for communication among the presidents in the state-reveals that voluntary coordination can be successful. It particularly works well, he pointed out, when there are lots of resources and when the institutional pecking order is maintained. Other respondents suggested that the Presidents Council is an important vehicle for bringing institutions together on key issues of consensus, and most importantly, for presenting a united front to the Legislature on the budget.

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Tuition

Institutional governing boards in Michigan are responsible for setting their own tuition. Tuition at each level of public higher education in Michigan is above the national average, as shown in Table 5.

Table 5
Average Public Undergraduate Tuition
Institutional Type
Michigan Average
National Average
Research Universities
$5,842
$3,613
State Colleges and Universities
$3,213
$2,763
Community Colleges
$1,505
$1,391
Source: Washington State Higher Education Coordinating Board, 1995-96 Tuition and Fee Rates: A National Comparison (Olympia: 1996), not paginated.

Students and families in Michigan contribute approximately 43 percent of total funding for higher education (state appropriations plus tuition), while the national average on this measure is 31.6 percent.

We heard from many of our respondents that affordability is a great concern to policy makers in Michigan. "Tuition is the number one issue in the Legislature," one university board member said. Michigan institutions have some of the highest tuition rates in the country and many worry that students are being priced out of the market.

The state has undertaken several initiatives to address affordability. In the late 1980s, Governor Blanchard (the previous Governor) tried to use the threat of financial sanctions to convince governing boards to hold down tuition; he suggested that tuition increases would result in cuts in the executive budget the following year. Despite constitutional autonomy, a tuition freeze was in effect from 1987 to 1989 due to political pressure.

In 1995, Governor Engler also emphasized the need to keep tuition increases down. After a 44 percent increase in tuition over a four-year period in the early 1990s, the Governor developed a tuition tax credit plan that worked as follows: at institutions where tuition increases were held below the rate of inflation for the previous year, students attending those institutions (or their parents) would receive a tax credit equal to four percent of that institution's tuition. The plan was meant to encourage institutions to hold down tuition, and to encourage students to attend those institutions that were keeping tuition increases to a minimum. Four public universities-Michigan State, Grand Valley State, Western Michigan, and Lake Superior State-were able to hold tuition increases below the inflation level, and thus their students were eligible for the tax credit.

This incentive, however, was not popular with some institutions, many of which argued the state should have provided more money for all institutions, thus helping institutions to keep tuition increases down. In addition, there was some concern that the Legislature interfered with institutional autonomy, since the constitution grants to individual boards the right to set tuition. This issue caused a fair amount of divisiveness between elected officials and the campuses. Several legislators who were early supporters of the tax credit told us that they were reconsidering their position. The tax credit was not continued in the 1996-97 budget.

Not everyone agreed that tuition increases need to be avoided. One respondent told us that the state has not yet reached its tuition threshold, and there is significant untapped revenue in terms of tuition. Another respondent suggested that at some institutions, tuition can still be increased significantly, while many of the smaller regional institutions may have reached their limits.

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Independent Colleges and Universities

Private colleges and universities in Michigan enroll about 15 percent of the full-time-equivalent (FTE) enrollment in the state. There is no dominant private university in the state, and few of the colleges are nationally visible or very large. Many of the private institutions are credited with being creative, finding a niche that is not occupied by the public sector. A public university president argued that the privates present Michigan residents with a diversity of choice.

Private colleges do serve a high percentage of minority students: almost 19 percent of students at the private colleges and universities are from underrepresented groups.

The Association of Independent Colleges and Universities is the lobbying arm of the private institutions in the state. The association's lobbying efforts focus primarily on a number of financial aid and degree reimbursement programs available to the private sector. There are three degree reimbursement programs, the first of which is the general degree reimbursement program covering all degrees except in areas such as theology and divinity. The state awards $425 to private institutions for each bachelor's or master's degree that they grant to a Michigan resident in the preceding year, and half that amount for each associate degree granted to a Michigan resident.

The second degree reimbursement program provides awards for each degree that is awarded to a Michigan resident in allied health fields requiring clinical experience or state licensing. In 1994-95, institutions received $2,325 for each bachelor's or master's degree awarded in this area. The philosophy behind this reimbursement, according to one respondent, is that the state needs professionals in these fields, and this type of training is very high cost-the state gets a bargain by paying $2,325 for these degrees.

The third reimbursement program includes a grant to the University of Detroit's Mercy Dental School. This is a flat grant of $4 million. Essentially, the state does not want to open another public dental school (there is one now at the University of Michigan) and this is a way to support the need for dental training at a lower cost to the state.

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Financial Aid

The state operates several financial aid programs aimed at making college more affordable. Need-based aid awarded by the state increased from $70 million in 1989-90 to over $89 million in 1994-95, an increase of 15 percent. During this same period, however, tuition increased by more than 44 percent.

The two largest state financial aid programs are the competitive scholarships (for students at public and private institutions) and the tuition grants (for students attending private colleges and universities). The competitive scholarships, which have need- and merit-based components, award a maximum of $1,200 per student. Approximately 26,500 scholarships totaling $32 million were awarded in 1994-95, with 78 percent of the grants awarded to students at public institutions.

The Tuition Grant Program, available to students attending the state's private colleges, is need-based and is meant to promote choice. The maximum grant under this program in 1994-95 was $1,975. This amount is a function of the total appropriations to the program divided by the number of eligible students. Because almost 85 percent of students at independent colleges in Michigan are Michigan residents, there are large numbers of eligible students. As a result, the maximum award is lower than it is in most states. In 1994-95, this program awarded approximately $45 million to over 31,000 students.

The Michigan Educational Opportunity Grants, provide public institutions with discretionary financial aid money. Approximately $1.7 million was given for 5,000 awards under this program in 1994-95.

There are two entitlement programs in Michigan as well. The first is a tuition incentive program, which is a guarantee to children from welfare families; if these children stay in school, the state will provide the first two years of college tuition, equal to the average of two-year public tuition in the state. A second entitlement program is the Indian Tuition Waiver Program, which the Governor has proposed eliminating.

One university board member said that although financial aid programs are serving poor students in Michigan well, working class students must borrow in order to attend institutions of higher education. This is an increasing concern among the general public, according to several individuals, because the public tends to equate low tuition with access; increasing prices, without commensurate increases in financial aid, means that the system is no longer able to provide the access it once could.

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