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Happy May! We made it through March’s false spring and April’s showers to get to enjoy the beauty of May’s flowers (both literally at the Holland Tulip Festival – fireworks sponsored by our friends at Latin Americans United for Progress! – and figuratively).

2024 Legislative Budget Proposals

The budget season has continued too. On February 7th, Governor Whitmer laid out her budget recommendation, making large investments in affordable housing, universal pre-K, free pathways to higher education, and tax breaks for caretakers. (To see our response to the Governor’s budget, look here!) At the end of April, the Michigan legislature rolled out their proposals with 5 of our policy priorities making it into them.

Across both budgets, the legislature made major investments in expanding career preparation, improving FAFSA completion, making college more affordable, and reducing the cost of housing. While there were main areas of agreement on investment (providing aid for FAFSA completion and expanding resources to help cover nontuition costs), there were also major differences (expanding affordable housing and career exposure opportunities). This is likely what negotiations will focus on as the Legislature works to finalize the budget. See our statement on the legislature’s proposed investments, and how they compare to the Governor’s proposal here.

The Summer

Every day we move a bit closer to one of Michigan’s best seasons: summer! Like schools, Lansing mostly clears out for summer break in July and August (see the session calendar here). This means there will be fewer opportunities to formally meet with legislators and move policies. However, that does not mean the summer can’t be useful for advancing higher education priorities.

Besides going to root for the Tigers and eating some superman ice cream along Lake Michigan, the summer is great for reflection, research, and strategy for the upcoming budget cycle. The TICAS MI team will be reflecting on how the last year went and compiling those reflections and more into our 2nd annual Impact Report (read the 2022 – 2023 Impact Report here). We will also spend time planning our theme for next year and identify and solidify what research topics we’d like to investigate. These ideas will all make up our 2024-25 Playbook, which will be released in September (read this year’s playbook here).

If there’s anything you want to uplift as something we can improve on from last year or that you want us to work on next year, please let us know by setting up a meeting with Manon through this link!

What’s Next?

All the major budget proposals have been released, but that doesn’t mean that the budget advocacy season is over. As the legislature and executive work towards finalizing the budget, we still have the opportunity to provide feedback on the proposed investments and highlight opportunities for their continued improvement.

For more information on the Michigan Budget Cycle, please see: MLPP Michigan Budget Cycle

To close out the budget advocacy season, we recommend:

  • Reviewing the House and Senate’s budget proposals. Identify which proposed investments align with your priorities, which investments could be changed to better align with your priorities, and which priorities are missing from the proposals.
    • It may be particularly helpful to compare the different investments made across budgets and highlight the strengths of each one.
  • Drafting documents that highlight the investments you support and identifying improvements you would like to see made are important to the process. We highly recommend making specific suggestions on how the language or investment can be improved and how those changes will help meet shared policy goals.
  • Scheduling meetings with legislators or members of the executive office to share your feedback on what you support and appreciate in the proposals, and how they can continue to improve upon the proposals.
  • Aligning your conversations with legislators’ interests, following up with additional information, and staying up to date with legislators who seemed particularly interested in your proposals can also be helpful.
  • Preparing to review the final budget in June! Like with the Governor’s budget, you’ll want to look for wins and areas for continued improvement.

For reference, you can review TICAS’ policy priorities for the year here and our response to the Legislature’s budget here. If you have any questions about drafting resources, talking to legislators, or figuring out how to improve certain policies, please feel free to set up a meeting with Manon and/or Onjila.

Did You Know?

In Michigan, there were 23,720 transfer students enrolled in the fall of 2023, a 12.6 percent increase from the fall of 2022 and 1.5 percent increase from the fall of 2021. According to MI School Data, the official education data source for the state of Michigan, 27,860 students transferred from 2-year institutions during the 2022-23 school year.

Data Source: MI School Data. College Transfer: 2022-2023 Data. Retrieved 2024. https://www.mischooldata.org/college-transfer/

Community Resources

Please send any resources, events, or other materials that you would like us to share in our newsletters to Manon Steel at msteel@ticas.org.

Michigan League for Public Policy, Michigan School Funding 101 – This overview breaks down how Michigan funds its public schools. It includes easy to understand flow charts that explain where funding comes from and how they are used to support public schools. It also clearly explains some of the more complicated aspects of funding like weighted funding and categorical grants.

Blue Water College Access Network, 4-Year Planning for 8th Grade Students & Families – This video emphasizes the importance of early planning for higher education. It also provides insights into how students and families can maximize the opportunities provided in high school to best prepare for postsecondary education.

Talent First, Adult Postsecondary Education in Michigan & Beyond – This report provides an overview of postsecondary enrollment and completion among adult students in Michigan. It also highlights the barriers adult students are facing and proposes solutions to addressing those solutions. It also outlines the goals and actions of the Michigan Center for Adult College Success at Talent First.

Kalamazoo Promise, Elevate Your Success: Crafting the Perfect Elevator Pitch – This blog outlines the main benefits of crafting an elevator pitch and how to do it. It breaks down crafting an elevator pitch into seven clear and easy steps. It also provides some advice on when to use this pitch.

TICAS Michigan Resources:

Welcome New Communities of Underrepresented Student (C-US) Partners!

Thank you to everyone who signed up for or nominated someone to be a part of our conversations uplifting the needs of students from communities who often go unheard. These spaces are meant to be opportunities to understand common barriers, experiences, and potential priorities among communities of color and rural communities. We will be launching these conversations this summer and look forward to continuing these conversations into the year.

We are welcoming new members to these conversations as interest grows.  If you know anyone from the communities listed below who would be interested and willing to share their insights into the needs that exist across the education to talent pipeline in MI, please share this survey or contact Manon Steel at msteel@ticas.org.

Leaders of Color from the Following Cities:

  • Battle Creek
  • Benton Harbor
  • Detroit
  • Eastpointe
  • Flint
  • Grand Rapids
  • Harper Woods
  • Highland Park
  • Inkster
  • Kalamazoo
  • Lansing
  • Muskegon Heights
  • Oak Park
  • Pontiac
  • Saginaw
  • Southfield
  • Ypsilanti

Student Support Leaders from the Following Counties:

  • Alcona
  • Alger
  • Alpena
  • Arenac
  • Baraga
  • Clare
  • Gladwin
  • Gogebic
  • Iosco
  • Iron
  • Kalkaska
  • Lake
  • Menominee
  • Missaukee
  • Montmorency
  • Ogemaw
  • Ontonagon
  • Osceola
  • Oscoda
  • Roscommon
  • Wexford

Student Opportunities

Grow Detroit’s Young Talent Summer Youth Employment Program –  Citywide summer jobs program that trains and employs young adults between the ages of 14 and 24 for up to 120 hours. Youth participants must be permanent residents of the City of Detroit and be eligible to work in the United States. There are a broad range of jobs available to the participants. Examples of jobs include: community cleanups, event planning, accounting, retail and the Junior Police or Fire Cadets to name a few.

Regional Student Transition and Engagement Program (Regional STEP) – Regional STEP connects high school seniors to postsecondary access professionals in the summer, where they build a strong, trusting relationship with 12 STEP coaches to make meaningful decisions regarding college selection. They also complete paperwork, including but not limited to, FAFSA and financial aid, housing, and enrollment transition. Students also set up an action plan to address their basic needs (e.g. food and transportation) in college.

State of Michigan Internships – State of Michigan internships create an ongoing partnership between students, academic institutions, and the State of Michigan, connecting agencies with talented students. Internships are available across 18 different State of Michigan departments, where students gain practical, real world experience, networking opportunities, and a competitive edge for employment opportunities with the State of Michigan. To find and apply to internship openings, visit this jobs website, and to learn more, view our short State of Michigan Internship Program video.

Partner Events and Resources

New Partners, Welcome!

Partnership is a great opportunity not only for the purpose of collaboration and alignment of shared interest, but it also allows our team at TICAS to learn how we can best advocate for the needs of Michigan students and families in policy by learning from community partners.

Please join us in uplifting community partner organizations impacting students on their postsecondary journeys across the state.

Council of Community Foundations

Detroit Parent Network

Education & Economic Justice Coalition

Gud Marketing

Winning Futures

If you are interested in sharing with us how we could best support your community and partners alike in policy, please use and share the form below on “How to Get Involved”. This form is not a commitment form but rather an opportunity for us to learn more about the needs in supporting Michigan communities in higher education policy and resources needed.

How to Get Involved