Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan.
Access to higher education is one of the key drivers of economic mobility, particularly in a city like Detroit where poverty rates, according to the University of Michigan, are “nearly three times higher than the national average” at close to 35%. While Detroit has a very high high school graduation rate — over 88% — this falls off substantially when it comes to higher education. Only 28% make it through a 4-year degree, and 11% through a graduate or professional degree program. Wayne State University, an institution that serves close to 18,000 undergraduate students each year, is looking to fix this — having taken the highly unusual step for a public institution of making tuition free for any high school graduate with a Detroit address who receives admission, starting in 2020.
While at the lower levels it’s been largely shown that education is just one of many, many social determinants that affect income inequality — others including access to healthy food and health care, the presence of living wage and union jobs, etc — a college education has been shown to have dramatic results on economic outcomes. For instance, a joint report between the Department of Treasury and Department of Education found that college graduates received a median 64% weekly income boost. And with roughly 75% of college students attending public universities, public schools like Wayne State are critical doorways for young people to broaden their economic opportunities.
I sat down with Dr. Keith Whitfield of Wayne State, Provost and Sr. Vice President for Academic Affairs to learn more about this historic announcement and its economic impacts. His job is essentially to take care of students — and that’s why he was one of the driving forces spearheading this change, which took time, care, and planning across the entire university administration.
Dr. Keith Whitfield, Provost and Sr. Vice President for Academic Affairs
Dr. Whitfield, can you share more about the history of Wayne State and the students it serves?
Dr. Whitfield: Certainly. Wayne State is 151 years old. It started as a medical college that was designed to help soldiers returning from the civil war. Since that time, it has become a comprehensive university with 13 schools and colleges designed to provide an outstanding educational experience. The school has become one of the premier urban research universities in the country.
How often were you seeing access to tuition funds keeping bright young minds out of Wayne State or other institutions? I presume this is not just a problem for Wayne State but for many institutions nationally — how are public institutions generally doing in making education accessible to first generation, lower income students?
Dr. Whitfield: As Provost, the president has charged me with attending to the needs of not only our faculty and academic staff, but also our students; a role I do with great joy. As I interacted with students, it was clear that while our student population is hard working and full of grit to meet any challenge before them, financial matters are an important factor that has derailed many of them having a clear path to attaining a college education. This is perhaps no more evident than when you speak to first generation and/or lower income students. The challenge of balancing school, work, and family when you don’t have either a family history or resources for pursuing a college degree can seem insurmountable. While we know our students struggle, these issues are all too common across the country. Institutions have to understand that merit students have need too, so no matter the talent a student may possess, financial considerations have to be given so that they can realize their potential to be great.
How much will this program cost? And how is Wayne State going to afford it? I’ve seen in other media simply “we will figure it out” but would love to learn more of the specifics, and if there are lessons other institutions can take who are working up the courage to make similar programs available.
Dr. Whitfield: We have talked about doing something bold to try to address affordability for nearly three years now. As we looked at the kind of support we get from the state of Michigan, from federal financial aid programs, and from the incredible generosity of donors, we developed a model that could on a limited scale provide free tuition. We had to take into account the institutional dollars we spend on financial aid and who those dollars go to. The plan has two obvious limits; one, it is only for those in the city of Detroit. We’d like to do it for more people but this is what we can afford at the present time. The second limitation is that this program is for students who qualify to attend WSU. By the time we support students for a four year degree, we will be spending approximately two million dollars a year to sustain the program. If other institutions are to follow our lead, they have to do a careful assessment of their resources and their institutional values around using aid for the merit and need of students — which again are not totally separate issues. Our program is a “last dollar in” program, meaning that we provide the amount of money needed to cover tuition after state and federal aid are calculated for a student. Then we use institutional and endowment funding to make up for the rest of a student’s need to cover tuition and fees. Ultimately, we expect about 500 students to initially benefit from this program.
Was there a feeling of “trade-off” in making this decision? Did other projects like new buildings or stadiums have to get put on hold? How did this rise to the top of Wayne State’s budgetary priorities?
Dr. Whitfield: We, like most institutions, have many hard decisions to make about how we spend our constrained resources. But we followed our mission and our values, that is what allowed us to make this hard but right decision. Our focus as an Urban Research University with a passion for student success is based on principles of making an outstanding educational experience be one that is attainable by those in our community.
Many of your graduates stay in the Detroit area. How do you see this decision impacting the broader landscape of Detroit? What other savings and benefits might local government see by having a more educated population?
Dr. Whitfield: WSU has an incredible impact on the economy of the city of Detroit and the State of Michigan. That impact is in billions of dollars. This is because over 75% of our students stay in the area. As the revitalization of Detroit marches onward, WSU has to be a contributor to the educated citizens that are part of the rebirth. We are Detroit’s Research University and our commitment is deep. We continue to work to help government and industries to understand that our students change the world and their impact is important.
Detroit, like many urban areas, has many impoverished areas just outside its borders. How did Wayne State decide to limit the program to Detroit’s borders, and what opportunities are still available for those in surrounding neighborhoods?
Dr. Whitfield: As we designed our model, we came back to the fact that about 95% of our students come from a 30 mile radius. We also had to have a reasonable expectation for how many students we could offer such a significant benefit to. Our goal is to start with Detroiters but we would really like to see it offered to anyone who enters our doors as a new freshman. But for now, the scope of that is larger than our resources.
Can you talk about the distinctions between public and private universities? Why should local residents protect and support public institutions?
Dr. Whitfield: Sure, I have had great past experiences at both kinds of institutions. While both provide opportunities for students, I believe that public institutions hold their accountability to the city and state in which they reside. They are intended to be an affordable way to get a great education and an opportunity to live the American dream of greater economic prosperity through education. Public institutions hold and reflect the values of the citizens through the educational offerings provided by a university, and thus produce people who will uphold the ideals held as important. Public institution’s tuition is almost invariably lower than tuition at private institutions. Tuition costs are held lower by the incredible support public institutions get from the people of that state. So, public institutions are there for the public — it is their institution!
Thanks to Jasmine Rashid for her contributions to this piece. Full disclosures related to my work here. This post does not constitute investment, tax, or legal advice, and the author is not responsible for any actions taken based on the information provided herein.
