Preparing Black students for life and career, not just a job
This post was originally published in October 2016. It is arguably more relevant today than then. As Farhad Manjoo details in a recent New York Times column coding will not be a high-paid occupation for much longer. As Kim Trent made clear in this post technical/occupation specific skills are not foundational to successful forty-year careers. […]
Are upper middle class parents destroying the American Dream for everyone else’s kids?
This post was first published in July 2017. As America confronts the reality of structural racism, it is clear we need to put on the table topics that have been off the table for far too long. One of those uncomfortable conversations we need to have is about segregation. All the ways the upper middle […]
Could college degrees save the lives of Michiganders?
We at Michigan Future Inc. have not been shy about sharing ample research that demonstrates the correlation between degree attainment and economic stability. It’s no coincidence that Michigan ranks 32nd for both college degree attainment and per capita income. But recent research suggests that lacking a college degree may not only threaten one’s bottom line, […]
Are America’s colleges solidifying economic castes?
In our first-ever policy agenda, Michigan Future Inc. argues that boosting Michigan’s four-year college degree attainment rate holds the most promise as a strategy to increase household income in our state. There is ample evidence of the correlation between a state’s college attainment and per capita income. Of the top 15 American states for per […]
Macomb leverages water and parks to draw talent
Close your eyes and think of Macomb County, Michigan. What comes to mind? Perhaps you think of vast stretches of industrial shops and auto plants, bedroom communities or even influential swing voters. But now county leaders are banking on a new vision of Macomb County: bucolic bike paths and scenic water ways. At Advancing Macomb’s […]
Higher education’s role as an economic mobilizer threatened by defunding
Michigan Future Inc. has long argued that the state’s economic policy should be organized around the goal of raising household incomes for all Michiganders. We have also long championed boosting the number of four-year degree holders in our state as the most effective policy lever to accomplish this goal. There is ample evidence that there […]
Toward a Michigan policy agenda that prioritizes the actual needs of taxpayers over the perceived desires of corporations
A few months ago, Michigan Future Inc. introduced its first-ever state policy agenda. In it, we argue that rising income for all Michiganders should be the policy goal for Michigan’s leaders and we offer three levers to accomplish that goal: schools from birth through college that are organized around giving students broad, 21st century skills […]
Boosting graduation rates: A moral imperative for Michigan universities
At my freshman year college orientation 30 years ago this month, a high-ranking university official asked students to look to their left and to their right and told them that one the fellow freshmen they looked at would likely not finish college. The warning from the university official was meant to inspire students to understand […]
The end of public higher education in Michigan?
At Governor Rick Snyder’s recent Higher Education Summit, George L. Mehaffy, Vice President for Academic Leadership and Change for the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, offered a dire prediction that made me gasp out loud: Based on the trends since 1980, average state fiscal support for higher education will reach zero by 2059. […]
Incentivizing Detroit homeownership for teachers could boost student, community outcomes
Recently, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan announced a new program that offers homes in the city’s 30,000-property land bank to employees of Detroit schools – both traditional and charter – at a 50 percent discount. The idea is to attract educators back to the city and its schools and help solve Detroit’s teacher shortage. As recently […]