Michigan Grant Aims to Boost Degree Completion for Community College Students
In an effort to support community college students in Michigan, a new state grant is set to provide an opportunity for them to earn an associate degree, even if they transfer to a longer program at a university. This initiative is designed to enhance academic progress tracking for students who transfer from community colleges to public universities.
The grant, amounting to $255,000, is issued by the Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential. It is tasked to the Michigan Association of State Universities (MASU) to manage and implement the program. The goal is to utilize a system that will ensure universities can accurately track the academic achievements of these transfer students.
Dan Hurley, the CEO of MASU, highlights the importance of obtaining an associate degree as a significant milestone for students. “It’s a motivating achievement that encourages them to double down, earn that baccalaureate degree and then move on to the next step in their educational career endeavors,” he explained.
Hurley projects that establishing the data-sharing program between public universities and community colleges could take up to two years. The primary challenge involves setting up the necessary backend data management and IT infrastructure at educational institutions.
“I really do think this should be probably the last domino outside of doing the actual on-the-ground work that has to take place at the universities,” Hurley stated, adding that while the grant “might not sound like a lot of dollars, I think it will have a meaningful impact.”
This initiative is aligned with Michigan’s broader educational objective to ensure that by the end of the decade, at least 60% of working-age adults possess a degree or work certificate. More information about this goal can be found here.
