Program |
Gross Appropriation |
Appropriation Breakdown |
|
|
|
Community College |
$245,479,179[51] |
All from GF/GP |
Operations |
|
|
Program Description:
Michigan's 28 community colleges provide the following: (1) higher education opportunities to citizens for whom the cost, location, or academic entrance requirements of Michigan's four year colleges and universities are barriers to attendance; and (2) job training and retraining opportunities, including vocational, avocational, and non-degree courses and programs that may not be offered at other institutions.
Approximately 209,500 students attend classes full-time at one of Michigan's community colleges located throughout the state, with 2 in the Upper Peninsula, 7 in the northern Lower Peninsula, and the remaining 19 in southern Michigan.
Curriculum offerings at Michigan's community colleges include pre-professional, liberal arts, occupational, and vocational courses. Approximately, 50% of student credit hours are earned in liberal arts courses; 25% in business courses; 10% in trade and technical courses; 10% in health related courses; and the remainder in development and special interest courses.
For fiscal year 1995-96, Community College Operations funds will be allocated as follows:
Alpena Community College |
$4,019,667 |
Bay de Noc Community College |
$3,433,333 |
C.S. Mott Community College |
$12,627,429 |
Delta College |
$11,628,420 |
Glen Oaks Community College |
$1,721,808 |
Gogebic Community College |
$3,626,213 |
Grand Rapids Community College |
$16,041,355 |
Henry Ford Community College |
$17,655,954 |
Jackson Community College |
$10,761,612 |
Kalamazoo Valley Community College |
$7,967,756 |
Kellogg Community College |
$7,081,046 |
Kirtland Community College |
$2,654,652 |
Lake Michigan College |
$3,921,588 |
Lansing Community College |
$25,524,047 |
Macomb Community College |
$27,644,077 |
Mid Michigan Community College |
$3,135,176 |
Monroe Community College |
$2,968,658 |
Montcalm Community College |
$2,673,514 |
Muskegon Community College |
$7,344,222 |
North Central Michigan College |
$2,401,876 |
Northwestern Michigan College |
$6,874,409 |
Oakland Community College |
$18,480,029 |
St. Clair Community College |
$5,800,435 |
Schoolcraft College |
$9,431,755 |
Southwestern Michigan College |
$4,399,729 |
Washtenaw Community College |
$8,826,747 |
Wayne Community College |
$15,006,750 |
West Shore Community College |
$1,826,922 |
Recommended Action:
While public support of higher education would be better accomplished by converting from direct funding to a system of tuition vouchers or tax credits, such a plan may be politically unfeasible at the moment.[52] Such a system would provide greater incentive for institutions of higher learning to contain costs and make sure as many resources as possible are dedicated to serving the student's education needs. There are, however, some immediate steps that the Michigan Legislature should take to deal with escalating costs.
Between fiscal year 1984-1985 and fiscal year 1994-95, community college full-time student enrollment increased by approximately 2.2%--from approximately 205,000 to 209,500. During the same period, spending grew by approximately 55.1%--from $155,457,300 to $241,205,500.[53] Thus, spending increased more than 25 times as fast as did enrollment, a staggering figure.
Clearly, over the last decade, spending has risen at a disproportionately high rate. This needs to change; and a good way to do this would be to retroactively index spending.
Using 1984-85 as the base year, spending should be indexed to enrollment and inflation, which rose by approximately 2.2% and 41% respectively during the period 1984-1995: $155,457,300 * (1+ 0.022+ 0.41), which would yield a total of $222,614,854. Using this estimating formula, Michigan taxpayers would reap a savings of $22,864,375, as spending for fiscal year 1995-96 would be decreased from $245,479,179 to the indexed total of $222,614,854.