Learning Gap A

labor shortage, higher wages, and rising costs are contributing to a decline in enrollment at many colleges and universities both in Michigan and across the nation. According to MI School Data, last year 52.8 percent of local high school graduates enrolled in a college or a university, down from 65.8 percent a decade ago.

At the same time, the number of high school graduates fell by 3 percent over the past decade. Of the 100,765 students who earned a diploma in Michigan last year, 15 percent enrolled in a community college, down from 25.7 percent in 2013. During the same period, enrollment at Michigan’s public universities declined 15 percent.

To stem the tide, legislative and academic leaders must work more closely together to provide a steady pool of college graduates — or Michigan could fall further behind in the knowledge economy.

Consider, the current labor challenge is compounded by the Great Resignation, as millions of workers left the workforce and didn’t return following the outbreak of COVID-19 in March 2020. In turn, while extra unemployment assistance during the pandemic kept some workers on the sidelines, the aid has been phased out over the last 18 months.

With multiple job openings available today, businesses and organizations are paying higher wages and offering more generous benefits to lure recruits from a smaller talent pool. Entry jobs for electricians, plumbers, mechanics, and technicians that often paid $10 to $15 an hour a decade ago now offer $20 to $25 per hour to start. Wages will continue to ascend, if history is a guide.

Taxpayer Charge

AS THE DEMOCRATIC-CONTROLLED Michigan Legislature, in lock step with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, showers Ford Motor Co. with $1.7 billion in subsidies for an electric vehicle battery factory in Marshall that will employ some 2,500 workers, the taxpayer-funded appropriation works out to a record $680,000 per job.

Matt Hall, House Minority Leader and a Republican, points out the largess allows Whitmer “to tell a good story” after she lost out in 2021, when Ford selected Kentucky and Tennessee for new EV assembly and battery plants. Whitmer also has led the charge to award other subsidies to attract EV battery and vehicle production since the start of 2022, including $824 million for General Motors Co., $715 million for Gotion Inc. in China to build a factory near Big Rapids, and $222 million for Our Next Energy Inc. in Novi.

All told, that’s $3.4 billion to create around 10,500 jobs — meaning taxpayers are footing a bill of $323,809 per worker. At the same time, the cost of a new EV has been rising steadily, putting it further out of reach of the average consumer after years of federal subsidies failed to stoke the market. Rather than approve enormous sums to attract a small percentage of jobs relative to the overall economy, it would be far better to lower taxes and prepare shovel-ready sites to attract businesses from multiple industries.

65.8 PERCENT MILLION $250

The nation recorded fewer births during the 2008 global economic crisis, and as a smaller student population moves through public and private schools over the foreseeable future — offset by a slight rise in the birth rate over the last two years — the prospects for higher education will hinge on attracting more out-of-state students, and creating additional financial support in the form of grants and scholarships.

In recent years, Michigan’s business, legislative, and educational sectors have created additional funding options to support students. In 2011, Gov. Rick Snyder began an initiative to provide Detroit high school graduates with access to a no-cost associate degree or a technical certificate at area schools. That effort led, in part, to the creation of the Detroit Promise that today is administered by the Detroit Regional Chamber Foundation, on behalf of the Michigan Education Excellence Foundation.

More recently, the Republican-controlled Legislature, between 2020 and 2021, brought forward Michigan Reconnect and Futures for Frontliners — programs that, between them, cover the vast majority of tuition costs at area community colleges. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed both bills, along with approving the Michigan Achievement Scholarship.

Wheels Down

WITH AIRLINE MISHAPS, close encounters between passenger jets, and computer snafus on the rise, it’s time for Congress to remove the business of air-traffic control from its purview and turn it over to a self-funding organization. Give him credit, in 1993 Vice President Al Gore tried to spur lawmakers to remove air-traffic control from pork-barrel politics, but the effort failed to gain flight.

Since then, more than 60 countries have followed Gore’s direction and turned their air-traffic operations over to separate entities. The nonprofit organizations have the ability to charge cost-based fees to fund improvements like the latest air-traffic control systems. If the U.S. had followed the same path, our air management system would be first rate, rather than the 1980s-era system we have today.

Source: MI School Data

The latter initiative, backed by $250 million in state funding and set to roll out this fall, will help cover most college credit costs for many incoming students. To help support and grow Michigan’s future employment base, state and educational leaders should look for other opportunities to train more students, add financial incentives, and lower taxes to keep graduates from leaving for other states and countries.

Rather than have airline traffic overseen by a vast, inefficient, and, at times, unaccountable bureaucracy, the Biden administration and legislators should work together to form a more efficient organization that’s immune from political pressures and can work to develop, implement, and utilize the best systems, both now and into the future.