Michigan’s public universities continue to outperform peers in producing graduates with critical skills employers need
DETROIT, Mich., Oct. 7, 2013 – Business Leaders for Michigan (BLM), the state’s business roundtable, today released an updated version of Michigan’s Performance Tracker for Public Universities, a website that identifies the performance of Michigan’s 15 public universities compared to their peers. The update ranks each school across more than 30 different data points.
“Michigan’s Performance Tracker for Public Universities makes the state a national leader in providing students, parents and policy makers an easy way to compare the performance of Michigan’s public universities,” said Doug Rothwell, BLM President and CEO. “The data shows that Michigan’s public universities outperform their peers in producing more graduates with the critical skills employers need.”
“Yet while our universities are doing a better job of producing skilled graduates and controlling costs, 13 of Michigan’s 15 public universities are receiving less state support than their peers,” Rothwell said. “At a time when Michigan needs more workers with an education beyond high school, we have to step up state support for our universities and colleges to make higher education more affordable.” Key findings from the update include:
- In 2011, 12 of 15 public universities were above average in producing critical skills degrees and certificates and 7 of 15 were among the Top 20%
- 13 of 15 public universities increased the number of critical skills degrees and certificates they awarded over the last three years (2008-2011)
- In 2011, 7 of 15 universities had administrative costs (as a percent of core expenditures) that were lower than their peer average
- 6 of 15 saw a drop in these figures while the rest held administrative cost increases below inflation
- 11 of 15 universities have more Pell students than their peer average and 6 of 15 are in the Top 20%
- All universities have increased the number of Pell students they serve over the last three years (2008-2011)
- 13 of 15 Michigan public universities receive below average state support compared to their peers.
The Performance Tracker for Public Universities was created over the course of a year in collaboration with the Anderson Economic Group and the Presidents Council, State Universities of Michigan. It was first released in February of 2013. It can be found at http://www.businessleadersformichigan.com/PerformanceTracker .
###