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Level Up Michigan promotes tuition-free community college programs to bridge higher education gap

Graduation photo
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Graduates celebrate.

Michigan is lagging other states in college degrees and technical certificates, but there’s a tuition-free community college guarantee available to thousands of residents that can close that gap

“What many people don’t know is that Michigan is falling behind in the level of post-secondary attainment.”

Kevin Stotts is President of Talent First, a Grand Rapids-based workforce pipeline, and a member of Level Up Michigan, a nonpartisan coalition of business, labor, education and civic leaders looking to close that gap.

“It’s the degree to which we’re filling the in-demand, good-paying jobs require some sort of a credential, be it a technical certificate or a degree.”

Level Up is spreading the word about Michigan’s Community College Guarantee, which covers tuition for recent high school grads, and Michigan Reconnect, subsidizing adults 21 or older who have not yet earned a degree. Both programs pay for two years’ tuition at any community college in the state.

“For the employer community in West Michigan, making sure people know about these programs, know that the cost should not be a barrier, and that there are many good-paying jobs that require some sort of technical education or a degree that they can get funding for, is kind of essential to our work in West Michigan.”

You can learn more online at LevelUpMI.org

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