The Disparity in Michigan University Funding

Policy analyst Jarrett Skorup notes today in Bridge Michigan that the state funding gap between Michigan’s 15 public universities ranges from $2,747 to $11,561 per pupil. Eliminating this gap would save taxpayers more than $600 million. Skorup writes about the arbitrary process by which colleges are funded:

Grand Valley State University scores second-highest on the state’s “performance funding” measurements and Wayne State University scores the lowest. By most objective measures, the former is doing a better job than the latter — but WSU still gets far more money from taxpayers.

Consider that Wayne State (20,108) and Grand Valley (20,825) have nearly the same number of resident full-time students — but the former receives more than three times as much money ($191.1 million compared to $64.4 million).

The six-year graduation rate at GVSU is 66 percent compared to 28 percent at WSU. The average student tuition paid per degree awarded at GVSU is $63,722 while Wayne State takes in over $108,000 in tuition per bachelor’s degree.

When the university the state says is doing the second-best in providing value to students is receiving among the least amount of funding per student, there’s something wrong with the formula.

Read the rest of the piece at Bridge.

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