Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is planning to urge lawmakers to pass legislation that would provide free community college tuition for all high school graduates.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer plans to urge state lawmakers to pass legislation that would provide free community college tuition for all high school graduates during her sixth State of the State speech on Wednesday.

Whitmer also prioritized community college access in her annual address last year. State lawmakers responded by temporarily lowering the minimum age for free tuition from 25 to 21 years old. The Democratic governor now wants to expand the program by removing all age requirements for free community college, according to details of her plan provided to The Associated Press by Whitmer’s office.

Whitmer’s administration created the Michigan Reconnect program in 2021, aiming to increase the percentage of the state’s workforce with a postsecondary degree or training from 50.5% to 60% by 2030. It made Michigan residents 25 years and older eligible for free community college tuition.

  • Veedem@lemmy.worldEnglish
    96·
    9 months ago

    Seems like a great idea to me. Invest in the population and it’ll pay off, long term.

    One of my greatest regrets is dropping out of college. I’m doing ok, thankfully, but it hasn’t been an easy path.

    • circuitfarmer@lemmy.sdf.org
      522·
      9 months ago

      You mean requiring a whole population to pay out of pocket for absolutely everything before they can afford it doesn’t lead to growth?

    • partial_accumen@lemmy.world
      30·
      9 months ago

      One of my greatest regrets is dropping out of college. I’m doing ok, thankfully, but it hasn’t been an easy path.

      This is one of those regrets in life you can actually undo!

      I dropped out of Community College after a year there at age 19. I went back to that same Community College at about 34 and finished my Associates Degree at night/weekends while working full time. One really nice thing was all of my credits earned as a teenager were still valid after almost 14 years away. I meant that my time there as a teenager wasn’t wasted. I transferred all my credits to University again doing school at night/weekends and finished my Bachelors at age 39. It was one of the best decisions of my life.

      Before going back to school I had all kind of anxiety about it. It was much easier as mature adult than as a teenager. I’m happy to share advice or just encouragement if it will help you.

    • kent_eh@lemmy.caEnglish
      8·
      9 months ago

      Certainly a much better approach than “I love the poorly educated”.

    • AA5B@lemmy.world
      7·
      9 months ago

      As society gets more complex, it’s more important than ever for everyone to be more educated. The death of journalism, rise of online scams, gutting of consumer protections and degeneration of politics makes it more critical for people to learn to think

  • BigMacHole@lemm.ee
    453·
    9 months ago

    SOCIALIST! REAL Patriots use Tax Dollars to give Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos more money, NOT Educate Kids!

      • Crack0n7uesday@lemmy.world
        3·
        9 months ago

        Missouri has had the A+ program since before I graduated in 2003, if you graduate high school with a 2.5 GPA (that was barely passing back then, idk what it is now) you got free community college.

    • PM_Your_Nudes_Please@lemmy.world
      14·
      9 months ago

      Definitely cheaper than public/private colleges, but not free. I think my classes came out to ~$1k per semester when I was going to my local community college. It’s still a significant sum for many, but it meant I didn’t need to take out student loans and could pay it off via part time work.

      • cosmicrookie@lemmy.world
        151·
        9 months ago

        It’s a wild comparison. I live in Denmark where you get paid $948 each month for attending college (or any education).

        So I assumed that at least it would be free in the US.

        • ohlaph@lemmy.world
          10·
          9 months ago

          Education and medical is outrageously expensive in America. I have had college text books cost $300. For one book.

        • Maggoty@lemmy.world
          5·
          9 months ago

          Oh we decided that even the state schools should cost more than most people can afford. I don’t know why.

          • Fedizen@lemmy.world
            5·
            9 months ago

            US corporations like workers to have debt etc. This gives them more power over employees.

    • AeonFelis@lemmy.worldEnglish
      4·
      9 months ago

      There is this theory that cultures that were developing in colder places had less reason to be wary of strangers, due to diseases being less transmittable in the cold, and because of that they turned out more progressive.

    • altec@midwest.social
      2·
      9 months ago

      It won’t be cold for much longer with the way climate change is heading. I moved to Detroit a few years ago, and all my neighbors have commented on how little snow we’re getting and how warm winters have been.

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
        2·
        9 months ago

        You’re way further north than me (I’m in West-Central Indiana) and on the lake. It was -14 here last week. I can’t believe it was especially balmy there.

        • altec@midwest.social
          2·
          9 months ago

          Eh, the heat waves and cold snaps are happening nationwide. I more mean that on average, it’s been pretty warm. Most of November and December was between 40F and 50F.

          But for sure, the lake (and concrete from the city) helps keep temperatures moderate. We’re also lucky being on the west side of the lake, so we don’t have to deal with lake effect snow.

  • Maggoty@lemmy.world
    18·
    9 months ago

    Oooo, I like this. Free Associates Degree and if you want to go on to get a Bachelor’s it now costs 50% less!

    Stick it straight to the for-profit college system.

  • papertowels@lemmy.one
    8·
    9 months ago

    IIRC New Mexico residents actually get free tuition at all state public universities (including 4 years)

  • Aghast@lemmy.world
    71·
    9 months ago

    As a resident in Michigan, this is good news but definitely not something we need to focus on at this point in time.

    The state government needs to focus on the basics and by that I mean clean water. Flint still has a water crisis and many cities like Brenton Harbor as well as northern Michigan towns face the same issues.

    It is possible they can fix the water infrastructure and provide free community college since they do have a large budget surplus.

    https://www.michigancapitolconfidential.com/news/michigans-2024-budget-will-spend-all-but-3-of-states-9b-surplus

  • dangblingus@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    3·
    9 months ago

    Because for some reason, in North America we determined that the best way to ensure that your population is educated and ready to be a powerhouse of innovation and productivity is to make the education required to achieve that as expensive and as out of reach as possible.

  • aTun@lemm.ee
    3·
    9 months ago

    School course books are more expensive then community college fee.

    • Twentytwodividedby7@lemmy.world
      241·
      9 months ago

      You generally have to graduate high school or complete the GED to be eligible for enrollment in higher education. This has nothing to do with ability, it’s just the minimum for entry

    • HappycamperNZ@lemmy.world
      132·
      9 months ago

      I would assume those who could actually reasonably pass.

      Saying that, over here you automatically get uni entrance when you hit 20 so those who grew after high-school aren’t disadvantaged. Have somethings similar would be good.

      • xor@infosec.pub
        225·
        9 months ago

        being a high school graduate says zero about intelligence, and just shows you can blindly follow rules

        • partial_accumen@lemmy.world
          282·
          9 months ago

          If you think college doesn’t also require you to follow blind rules, I’ve got bad news for you. A good chunk of life is the requirement to follow stupid rules. In that way school is a pretty good preparation for life after school.

          • xor@infosec.pub
            219·
            9 months ago

            if you think college is like high school, then you didn’t go to college…
            you see no difference between picking your own classes and being programmed to work in a factory?

            • partial_accumen@lemmy.world
              131·
              9 months ago

              if you think college is like high school, then you didn’t go to college…

              Thats a strawman. I never said college is like high school, I said going to college does not mean you avoid having to follow rules, even silly or stupid ones.

              you see no difference between picking your own classes and being programmed to work in a factory?

              You may not be aware, but in college while you do get to pick a portion of your own classes, for your chosen program of study there are certain required classes that are required or even prerequisite classes you have to take to take the class you want to pick. This is a good example of rules you have to follow.

        • OldWoodFrame@lemm.ee
          71·
          9 months ago

          It says you’re smart enough and driven enough to do literally the bare minimum for your own education, and sure, you follow the rules enough to pass.

          But spoilers, that’s what the community colleges want too. Smart enough, driven enough, following instructions enough to pass.

          And spoilers again, that’s what employers want too.

            • GooseFinger@lemmy.world
              51·
              9 months ago

              The tiny subset of people who dropped from high school, never got their GED, and want to take community college seriously could just… get their GED first? Compared to the time and cost of completing a 2 year degree, obtaining a GED is very small barrier to entry.

              You’re not articulating very well what your issue is.

              • mrnotoriousman@kbin.social
                41·
                9 months ago

                Would you be surprised to hear this guy is a high school dropout who wildly overestimates their own intelligence?

                • GooseFinger@lemmy.world
                  41·
                  9 months ago

                  GEDs are high school equivalency credentials. GED test scores are treated the same as high school credits by practically all institutions.

                  I’m not sure why this bill would exclude GED holders since there’s no practical reason to, so I’d assume they are included until we know for sure.

    • jubejube@lemmus.orgEnglish
      133·
      9 months ago

      My guess is it has to do with effective use of resources. The tuition is free to the student but not the taxpayer. Teachers and administrators don’t work for free. If you can’t get through state funded education up to high school then the chances probably aren’t great for college. Those seeking a second chance could always complete a ged and get the benefit, hopefully.

      • xor@infosec.pub
        124·
        9 months ago

        If you can’t get through state funded education up to high school then the chances probably aren’t great for college

        not true at all, the types of people that don’t do well in high school are usually the smartest ones

        • partial_accumen@lemmy.world
          191·
          9 months ago

          not true at all, the types of people that don’t do well in high school are usually the smartest ones

          There’s a difference in “not doing well” and “not graduating”. Also there are lots of different ways you could define the “smartest ones”, but ability to earn an income is a at least one indicator of success. Using that metric the data doesn’t support your assertion:

          source

            • partial_accumen@lemmy.world
              12·
              9 months ago

              you do realize your graph just supports my point, right? a high school dropout will earn a lot more money if they just get an associates degree.

              You think a community college will accept you in their programs without the high school level education?

              otherwise, im not a capitalist and think “ability to earn money” is the worst possible metric for judging someone…

              Feel free to present your own data to back up your point. So far you’ve provided none.

              • 🖖USS-Ethernet@startrek.websiteEnglish
                2·
                9 months ago

                No, they didn’t (said in another comment), but they somehow went to college without a diploma or equivalent (not sure how). They are also a self described genius and smartest person ever.

        • jubejube@lemmus.orgEnglish
          63·
          9 months ago

          I can see where you are coming from and do not disagree. However these decisions have to be made in aggregate and proportionally, the “geniuses” that failed or dropped out of highchool, are most likely a small minority compared to the overall population.

        • Twentytwodividedby7@lemmy.world
          3·
          9 months ago

          There is no empirical data to support that at all. If you have some we’d love to see it.

          While it is not unheard of for someone to do poorly in school and still be smart, education is a clear predictive variable for future success. Period.

          Also too, studies have shown that a direct outcome of improving starting wages and reducing unemployment is a reduction in violent crime. Also better median income in the state also results in better taxes for the state.

          This is by no means a giveaway. This is an investment in the state that pays many dividends. By the way Tennessee did this several years ago. It’s a net benefit for society.

  • zak@lemmy.l0l.cityEnglish
    519·
    9 months ago

    It’s a step in the right direction but won’t help if employers are only hiring senior roles or upping the requirements for entry level positions as they did in the past.

  • people_are_cute@lemmy.sdf.org
    419·
    9 months ago

    Good idea, hope this does not deteriorate the quality of education. Corruption gets very rampant in public education when there isn’t constant and vigilant oversight.

      • Jyek@lemmynsfw.comEnglish
        14·
        9 months ago

        The same reason poor highschool kids are often part of the school to prison pipeline. Corruption in poor students’ education leads to intentionally poor education which leads them to struggle as adults to meet the requirements of jobs that a student who got a scholarship to a “good” school will. I think this is a good idea but it’s not enough to make community college free. Higher education in general needs to come down drastically in price and the difference in cost between schools needs to come down as well. There is already judgment in adulthood about which school you went to. Now imagine what that judgement will be like when they find out you went to the free kind of community college.

        • pinkdrunkenelephants@lemmy.cafeEnglish
          42·
          9 months ago

          So your argument is that poor kids shouldn’t get free college upon graduation because they are inherently stupid and thus needed standards lowered to get them to graduate high school in the first place, and this will carry on into the future. Because they are inherently dumber and less capable simply by virtue of being poor.

          You are clearly one of those dumb people.