DETROIT—With General Motors filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the Michigan auto industry floundering as a whole, and a high rate of unemployment, it might be hard for some Michigan college students to feel confident after having invested thousands of dollars in an uncertain future.
Jason Novetsky, a graduate student at Wayne State University, says, “It’s necessary, but a four-year degree almost doesn’t seem worth it when you graduate into a poor job market with $30,000 in student loans.”
Another Michigan college student, Becky Bryant, who attends Macomb Community College, has chosen not to take out student loans. Instead she pays for her tuition with a mixture of out of pocket cash and financial aid. When asked whether she felt that attending a college still has the same benefits that it did prior to the recession, she said, “Not for people who don’t know what they’re doing. [You have to] do something now that you can get a job for. It just feels very limiting.”
The current economic situation has resulted in a change in enrollment rates for universities, which offer mostly four-year degrees, and community colleges, which offer only two-year degrees and various certifications.
Wayne State University has seen a drop in enrollment between the winter semester of 2008 and the winter semester of 2009. For the enrollment of undergraduate students there was a 1.2 percent drop, while graduate enrollment dropped 2.6 percent. The biggest decline for WSU was in the graduate and professional category, such as law and medical degrees, seeing a drop of 4.8 percent.
According to Dan Heaton, the manager of media relations for Macomb Community College, “there has been a significant and drastic jump in the numbers in our student enrollment. All age brackets have been enrolling, particularly the older folks.”
While WSU has seen a decline in enrollment, approximately 15 miles away, enrollment at MCC has increased from 22,300 students in the 2007-2008 school year to 23,149 in the 2008-2009 school year.
This change in enrollment rates may be due in part to the difference in tuition prices. WSU charges resident beginning students $239.40 per credit hour and the rate only climbs after students earn 56 credits. MCC on the other hand, charges resident students $72 a credit regardless of how many credits they have earned.
Jason Novetsky, a graduate student at Wayne State University, says, “It’s necessary, but a four-year degree almost doesn’t seem worth it when you graduate into a poor job market with $30,000 in student loans.”
Another Michigan college student, Becky Bryant, who attends Macomb Community College, has chosen not to take out student loans. Instead she pays for her tuition with a mixture of out of pocket cash and financial aid. When asked whether she felt that attending a college still has the same benefits that it did prior to the recession, she said, “Not for people who don’t know what they’re doing. [You have to] do something now that you can get a job for. It just feels very limiting.”
The current economic situation has resulted in a change in enrollment rates for universities, which offer mostly four-year degrees, and community colleges, which offer only two-year degrees and various certifications.
Wayne State University has seen a drop in enrollment between the winter semester of 2008 and the winter semester of 2009. For the enrollment of undergraduate students there was a 1.2 percent drop, while graduate enrollment dropped 2.6 percent. The biggest decline for WSU was in the graduate and professional category, such as law and medical degrees, seeing a drop of 4.8 percent.
According to Dan Heaton, the manager of media relations for Macomb Community College, “there has been a significant and drastic jump in the numbers in our student enrollment. All age brackets have been enrolling, particularly the older folks.”
While WSU has seen a decline in enrollment, approximately 15 miles away, enrollment at MCC has increased from 22,300 students in the 2007-2008 school year to 23,149 in the 2008-2009 school year.
This change in enrollment rates may be due in part to the difference in tuition prices. WSU charges resident beginning students $239.40 per credit hour and the rate only climbs after students earn 56 credits. MCC on the other hand, charges resident students $72 a credit regardless of how many credits they have earned.
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