MICHIGAN RECONNECT
County. A student living in Kingsley, which is part of Grand Traverse County, would. There are 31 community colleges in Michigan that participate in the tuition programs. According to the Michigan Reconnect website, about 80 percent of Michigan students live in a community college district. Lansing says northern Michigan is unique because so many students live in districts that don’t have a community college. However, he pointed to downstate and says the majority of the students there do live in counties with a community college. The problem: “The programs are both billed as free tuition,” Lansing says. “If you go in a little deeper, and especially when you’re in communities like ours, where we have a lot of out-of-district students, these programs are only paying free tuition for in-district students. That’s been the biggest frustration or challenge. Everything else has been manageable.” Although the tuition programs have good intentions, some students could use the assistance more than others. Students who are considered out of district tend to reside in counties with less resources (such as a community college), lower median income per household, and are typically less educated overall. According to Networks Northwest, Kalkaska ranks last among 10 northern Michigan counties in median household income, while Grand Traverse, whose residents can receive free tuition, is second highest. Kalkaska also ranks last in Bachelor degrees per household at 7.5 percent, while Grand Traverse has the second most behind Leelanau at 22.6 percent. Emmett County, which is home to NCMC, is third at 20.2 percent. “It’s a great program, I appreciate it,” Claerhout says. “And I feel that it benefits those that want to take advantage of it. But I do feel like it’s a little bit of a bait and switch with the state saying it’s free tuition. Well, tuition is one cost, but then we have added general fees. So there can be additional costs that add up for the student that are not covered.” For a Grand Traverse resident, tuition for a general full-time semester would be $1,344. Additional fees on top of the tuition include a general fee of $366 and a health service fee of $40 for a combined total of $1,750. Outof-district students would pay $3,214. Costs vary depending on the program that the
student is enrolled in. NCMC’s in-district tuition cost $1,920, while out of district is $2,964 per semester. “I wish the state would have thought this out in a little bit a different way, in order to service students who could really take advantage of this,” says the NCMC admission director. “But even if you are an out-of-district student, you are still getting a pretty good discount on your education.” The NMC admissions director says her college and other community colleges around the state have looked at ways to be more inclusive to offer in-district tuition to students in surrounding counties, but they have failed. “You’ll always have your Grand Traverse County residents who will say, ‘I paid a millage to get a lower rate. Why should someone outside of Grand Traverse, who’s not paid, get a lower rate?’” Claerhout says. “We tried it — I think it was 10 to 12 years ago — with the surrounding counties, and they all voted it down. It’s only important to you when it affects you.” TUITION — AND STUDENT AGE — KEEPS CLIMBING Claerhout has been working with college admissions since the 1990s. She says in the 1980s, 70 to 80 percent of colleges’ budgets came from the state. Over the years and through various governors, cuts to the budget have left colleges no choice but to raise tuition costs. Today, the 15 public universities in the state receive 11 percent while most community colleges receive under 21 percent. Fifty-four percent of NMC’s revenue is from tuition, says Claerhout. The college does offer more than 650 scholarships, which benefit many Futures for Frontliners applicants, but that, too, is sometimes not enough. “It still doesn’t work for everybody, because they still can’t afford it,” Claerhout says. “It’s one of those things that we look closely at, and we’re trying to work with everyone that we can, but when the state says free tuition, it doesn’t help us.” One silver lining is that the tuition programs are ushering in older students at the right time. In 2020, Michigan saw 166,000 less high school graduating seniors compared to the year before. This is bad news for colleges throughout the state that depend on healthy enrollments to balance budgets. However,
Michigan Reconnect is literally changing the face of enrollment with new students that are older. Applicants must be 25 years or older. “Our adult population who have some college, but don’t have a degree within our six county area is close to 19,000 people,” says Claerhout. Currently, NMC is strategically planning for the next 10 years. On the table, is the college’s older student population, who may have families and busier schedules to contend with. “They are much different to recruit,” Claerhout says. “And how we talk with them, and the services that they need, and the modality of how we offer classes.” Jim, 59, and Wendy, 53, both enjoy being back in school. “The college and its instructors have been awesome,” Jim says. “They work with us. They’ve got our backs.” The couple is carrying a 3.8 or higher grade point average. They had just finished their final exam and were going on vacation to Georgia, where Jim was raised. Aside from Futures for Frontliners, they have received assistance in the form of Pell Grants and NCMC scholarships. “They look at these two old people going back to school to become paramedics and are like, ‘Yeah, let’s give them some money,” Wendy says. “We haven’t been in a school since the ’80s.” The two programs — Michigan Reconnect and Futures for Frontliners — are similar, but do have their differences, especially when previous student loans are in play. “When it comes to students who are in default of their student loans, which we have a lot of students who are in that category, they can still get assistance,” Claerhout says. Futures for Frontliners requires applicants to apply for financial aid and if a student is in default, then they will not qualify for aid, making them ineligible for the program. However, students can be in default and still qualify for the Michigan Reconnect program. “That’s a huge benefit, and that’s really smart by the state,” Claerhout says, “because if someone can’t pay their student loan bills, and they can’t get a better job because they can’t go back to school, you’re never going to be able to get with the state initiative, or their goals for that student, unless you ease off on something.”
Michigan Reconnect is a scholarship program that pays for in-district students’ college tuition and discounts tuition for out-ofdistrict students. Its Skills Scholarship component provides one-time grants for Michiganders to enroll in an approved training program. The scholarship can be used to complete an associate degree or a skill certificate program. To be eligible, one must: • Be at least 25 years old when applying • Have lived in Michigan for a year or more • Have a high school diploma or equivalent • Have not yet completed a college degree (associate or bachelor’s)
FUTURES FOR FRONTLINERS
Futures for Frontliners is a state scholarship program for Michiganders who haven’t earned college degrees and worked in essential industries during the state’s COVID-19 shutdown in spring 2020 (April 1–June 30). The program provides frontline workers with tuition-free access to their local community college to pursue an associate degree or a skills certificate, either full-time or part-time while working. To be eligible, one must: • Be a Michigan resident • Have worked in an essential industry at least part-time for 11 of the 13 weeks between April 1– June 30, 2020 • Have been required by their job to work outside the home at least some of the time between April 1 – June 30, 2020 • Have not obtained an associate or bachelor’s degree • Not be in default on a federal student loan
Northern Express Weekly • september 06, 2021 • 11
