University of Michigan to offer free tuition to some in-state students

[inanna]

Source: Detroit Free Press

Published 3:17 p.m. ET June 15, 2017

The University of Michigan will offer free tuition to in-state students whose families make under $65,000 a year. The move was announced during a board meeting Thursday.

The move is part of the drive to increase access to the university.

About half the families in the state will qualify for this incentive.

Read more: http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2017/06/15/university-michigan-free-tuition-students/400761001/

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Time for a little bit of good news for a change.

[shawn703]

1. Wish they had that when I was applying for colleges! n/t

[DesertRat]

2. That's really great! k&r

[LisaM]

3. That is great. I went to Michigan.....

and I can tell you, that since federal funding has dried up for state schools, and since Michigan lost its affirmative action cases to the GOP SCOTUS a few years back, the general look and feel of the school has changed dramatically since I was there. Then, while there were a fair number of out of state students, they were definitely a minority. Now when I go back to campus, there seem to be a lot of rich foreign students (though I don't think this is exclusive to Michigan, I see it at U W too). This is a great way for state schools to re-connect with the people who live in that state.

[Freethinker65]

4. UM alumna. Go Blue!

[Dorn]

5. UM makes this move while the Michigan legislature is about to cut all teacher's pay

They hope to kill the pension plan for teachers

[politicat]

6. You know, this was the original intent of the land-grant colleges.

CU cost the equivalent of about 400 hours of minimum wage work per semester in 1950. It was $300 per semester for full time in-state, plus about an equal amount for room, board, and books. It was a serious commitment for the student and their family, and most students had to work at least summers and part time, but it was doable for most families with a child who could get admitted. CSU and UNC were slightly cheaper, as ag and practical schools.

Today, instead of costing 400 hours of minimum wage ($2900), it's more than 1000 hours per semester. Tuition alone is $15,400 per year, plus another $13K for room and board. (But it costs about $13K a year to support a person, and it's actually cheaper to room and board in the dorms than off campus.) There's just no possible way a young person and their family can earn enough to do it alone.

Pell Grants have not kept up -- the grant today is only about 4% more than what I got as an undergrad in the early 1990s. My scholarship covered my tuition and room/board; my Pell and 15 hours of work-study a week covered my non-housing and food living expenses. Now, they don't even cover half of a semester's tuition.

We established the land-grant colleges to provide education to the common people, and to better encourage doctors and nurses, veterinary specialists, agriculturalists, engineers and teachers for the population.

Reagan and Bush I were the ones who killed that.