In the fall of 2014 at the University of Michigan, more than half the students at the Ann Arbor campus were from out of state. It was the first time that had happened in at least 15 years. Evidently, the reason is the demand is so high for a Michigan degree, it is deemed worth the extra expense to attend Michigan.

I won’t argue the validity of a Michigan education over others in the state. I will only bring an observation from my career that the graduates from other colleges were as equal or more talented than Michigan grads, at least in engineering.

Michigan Tech grads seemed to be the brightest and became proven leaders of talent and management capability in product engineering/product development. Regardless, Michigan is viewed as a fine college, and I have no doubt of overall talent being produced by the school, however, I find most college professors demand less of students than 20 to 30 years ago and the grading seems to be generous. But that is true of all colleges and well as high schools. Most young high school graduates are not prepared for college.

In 2014, 43,625 students were enrolled at U of M. 21,514 (49.3%) were from Michigan. Nearly 2,500 students were from China and among U.S. states; California with 2,428, 2,170 from New York, 1,978 from Illinois, and 1,118 from New Jersey.

Now if Michigan wants to operate and educate student in its university, with the majority from out of state students, why is the taxpayer on the hook to subsidize the educational facility at Ann Arbor? I know the argument will be there aren’t enough students in state with the qualifications to attend such an elite university. Bullfeathers!

If any university that is state supported in the state of Michigan that has more out of state students, I would hope the state legislature would demand they forfeit state support accordingly. It is a ripoff of the taxpayer to support colleges that cater to out of state students than its own population. If you don’t agree with my assessment, please present your argument.

This type of educational ripoff has been going on way too long in this state. If they want to be a private school and educate who they wish, so be it, they forfeit all state aid. And the same goes for all the other state supported colleges.

You, the hard working taxpayers have been taking it in the shorts for way too long to these overpriced bastions of liberal arts education. Where the teaching of hate for the country and its institutions has been going on for far too long. Where what to think is being taught instead of how to think and the sharing of ideas in an open forum where no opinion or thought is judged, but able to stand upon the merits of reason and discussion.

Between teaching politically correct thinking and making everything irrelevant and equal in thought, the forces of good and evil are viewed as equals. The “truth” is no longer viewed as truth, but whatever the students decide or what their professors decide for them.

It is time for the halls of education to truly live up to their calling and educate state students and honor those who “feed” them by their hard earned taxes.

The rotting of America from within continues…

3 Comments

Sparty
October 9, 2018
State funding has been stagnant for the past several years. Colleges such as U of M view out of state students as cash cows because they can jack up the rates. It is those students that pay for michigan residents because Lansing is too inept to do their job (thank you revolving door).
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Couchman
October 10, 2018
Ranger Rick, you need to take your concerns to your state senator and state representative. More than a decade ago several state legislators who had similar concerns about the percentage of out of state students attending University of MI in Ann Arbor wanted to tie state support to a minimum percentage of incoming in-state freshmen. The university ducked that bullet by promising to change and increase the number of MI residents accepted. As of 2018, the freshman classes at MSU, MTU, WSU, CMU, EMU and WMU all have more in-state freshmen than does the University of Michigan Ann Arbor campus. (University of Michigan has tried to include numbers from its Dearborn and Flint campuses to improve their numbers, but doesn’t now) Every state supported university in every state tries to attract out of state and foreign students. As has been pointed out, those students are seen as cash cows. It’s reality in running a public university where federal and state funding is significantly less as a percentage money per student than it was 50 years ago. Loss of federal and state support has resulted in shifting more costs to students. In this case we’re getting what we don’t pay for. And so it goes.
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HARRY Smit
October 10, 2018
Ranger Rick: As stated by Sparty out of state and out of country applicants are viewed differently and also offered incentives to attend. Let me cite an example that I know is fact: My granddaughter qualified for an academic, "full ride" scholarship at both University of Michigan and Alabama... because Alabama offered the first year of housing at no cost and U of M did not, she will be graduating with a degree from Alabama. It is the little incentives offered to everyone not residing in the state that causes the percentages to become misaligned. For a parent to a first year college student the cost of housing can very much influence the choice of schools. Have you taken into account what degrees all these nonresident students are hoping to receive? Most universities are known for at least one field of specialty . I must disagree when you say Michigan's education system produces enough students qualified for the Universities here in Michigan. For the sake of discussion let's say U of M is known for medical and law degrees... Do you honestly think our state has enough qualified applicants for those degrees and if by chance they do, is it your belief they may not want to attend another University, maybe Harvard? Michigan's educational system is in dire need of repair... we may not see it on the local level... but it is evident in many areas of our state. To stop funding education on any level is a grave mistake. As for liberal indoctrination by the educators at Universities.... disagree... yes there may be more liberal than conservative educators in the years you attend. But ahough students are "fed" information slanted one way or the other... at this point in their life which way they go is in their hands and no one else's. We may not like it, but that is life,.
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