Michigan's Defining Moment Public Engagement Campaign Co-Chair Glenda Price argues in this guest column that we must get beyond the public-private college debate if Michigan is to significantly boost the education levels of the workforce...

IT'S MINDS THAT MATTER

By Glenda Price

Over the past two budget cycles in Lansing there has been much conversation about the need to support education and prepare students for a future that is dramatically different than our industrial past. There is a recognition that there is a need for different skills – not only competence in a discipline, but also social and cultural competence. Additionally there is a recognition that learning is a life-long process which must include everyone – minorities, older adults, the disabled, women, and persons from diverse backgrounds and experiences. Unfortunately, this dialogue has not acknowledged that educational options are essential to meet the needs of all learners.

If we truly believed that a college education benefits the community as well as the individual, we would not distinguish between those who find an independent, liberal arts college to be the best fit, and those who choose a large public institution. We have focused the conversation on supporting particular institutions rather than supporting students in places where they can best succeed. I believe that this is so, in part, because there is a misunderstanding in large segments of society about who attends our private colleges.

Michigan's independent colleges make an important contribution to the goal of the Cherry Commission to double the number of high performing college graduates over the next decade. These are institutions that foster leadership ( a quality that seems too often to be in short supply). They teach values, expect personal responsibility, demand critical thinking, pursue service to others, and prepare global citizens. Michigan’''ndependent colleges, in meeting their respective missions, are representatives of the state’s population as a whole. Data from the Michigan Colleges Foundation reveals that enrollment in this sector is approximately 74% Caucasian, 9% African American, 3% Hispanic, 2% Asian/Pacific Islander, 0.5% Native American, 4% international and 8.5% "other." The majority of these students are Michigan residents, they are primarily first generation college attendees, with more than 90% receiving some form of financial aid. The independent sector is not made up of the wealthy, those who could not gain admission to other institutions, or those who are simply marking time. The students are serious learners, concerned about the environment, the world around them, their communities, and place in society.

It is in the state's best interest to support the education of all of its citizens. We must get beyond the public-private debate. We must recognize that we all gain by having an independent sector of higher education that not only educates a segment of our student population, but also employs thousands of citizens, serves their communities in numerous ways and develops the next generation of leadership for our government and industry.

It's the mind that matters, not the classification of the institution where the students and parents have entrusted the intellectual growth and development of their minds. Part of the strength of American higher education has been a pluralistic system where everyone can identify a place for themselves. All of our institutions are valuable resources which deserve our support. We cannot afford to overlook or waste any.