A new report from The Century Foundationexamined college affordability challenges in Michigan, and found low and middle income families in the state cannot afford rising college tuition.
The Michigan’s College Affordability Crisis report says that since 2000, the state has cut funding to universities despite rising tuition costs. Over the past two decades, the group found that more of the financial burden was placed on families.
Jennifer Mishory is a senior fellow at The Century Foundation and co-author of the report. She says colleges have increased their contributions to financial aid, but that has not neutralized the state's aid cuts.
"We see a high level of funding coming from institutional aid, rather than from the state. And because it's coming institution by institution a student's experience at one institution might be quite different than at another," Mishory says.
She says the state government has not addressed a poorly designed financial aid system. "
The national think tank found black, Latino, and low-income families are most affected by college affordability challenges in Michigan.
