Michigan education leaders say many students are giving up on the idea of college, not because they aren’t interested, but because they don’t believe it’s an option.
The conversation comes as the state works toward its “60 by 30” goal: getting 60 percent of working-age adults a degree or certificate by the year 2030.
At a recent media roundtable hosted by the Michigan College Access Network (MCAN), panelists said concerns about affordability, limited awareness of financial aid and unmet basic needs continue to block access to higher education, particularly for Black and Brown students, Indigenous students, immigrants and students with disabilities.
Ryan Fewins-Bliss, executive director of MCAN, said students and families are still operating under outdated assumptions about college costs.
“The narrative about the cost of college has not caught up, too many families still assume college is out of reach financially, and it has never been more in reach than right now,” he said.
Programs like the Michigan Achievement Scholarship and Michigan Reconnect offer free or reduced tuition to qualifying students. But panelists said many families are unaware these resources exist, or unsure how to access them. Others fear the consequences of sharing personal information with the government, especially on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
Fewins-Bliss said that fear has increased in recent months, particularly among immigrant families, following political changes at the federal level.
Cyekeia Lee, executive director of the Detroit College Access Network, said FAFSA completion rates have dropped in parts of Detroit. She said some students are worried about submitting information that could be shared with law enforcement or used to target their families.
“We stand at the end of the tunnel shining the light to say college access is for you, but there are still students that are sitting in the dark in 2024 and ’25,” she said.
Lee said barriers begin long before the college application process. She described giving a keynote speech at a high school where the building had no power due to burst pipes that were never repaired.
“Despite those things, those students went off to Eastern,” she said. “But there’s so much more work to do.”
Brandy Johnson, president of the Michigan Community College Association, said Michigan’s 28 public community colleges, along with three tribal colleges, are playing a key role in improving access.
But she said policy changes are needed to reach more students, including changes to how dual enrollment is funded.
“That would be something that is feasible to accomplish in the next six to 18 months,” she said.
Stephanie Beckhorn, director of the Office of Employment and Training at the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity, said more than 500,000 working-age adults in Michigan lack a high school diploma or equivalent.
She said many face additional barriers to education and employment, including transportation, child care, housing and food security.
Charles Cotton, vice provost for enrollment management at Wayne State University, said students’ basic needs have not gone away after the pandemic. He said colleges must continue to find creative ways to offer wraparound support.
Fewins-Bliss said long-term stability in funding and support programs is essential to the state’s future.
“If we can’t support the students who need the most support, they won’t come," he said. "They won’t finish. They won’t show up, and that's a problem."
