Alexandre

Hoedown, how likely is Michigan to be forced into adopting those damaging policies? I would assume the state is powerless to force it on the University, but I could be wrong.

GoBlue81

How would college voucher work? I understand that the Colorado proposal was struck down by the state supreme court?

hoedown

Oh no, the Colorado thing has been in effect since 2005. Perhaps they struck down a voucher system for K-12, but they're already operating under vouchers for higher ed. Essentially the state gives Colorado universities a set amount per enrolled student per credit hour, and that amount comes right off each students' tuition bill. it's a paltry amount, about $2700 per full-time student.

Alex, the state isn't powerless in these things--U-M has a lot of constitutional autonomy but the State can put conditions on the money it provides. We count on cooler heads to vote down of the loonier ideas that some legislators float. Our VP-Government Relations is very busy. Also, one smart cookie.

GoBlue81

Apparently Colorado public universities are still getting the same funding from the state, in addition to the voucher, for there is still a significant difference between in-state ($4311) and OOS tuitions ($11790). On top of that, in-state students get to apply the voucher ($1602) and pay only $2709.
ACCESS Tuition Schedule | University of Colorado at Boulder Continuing Education

Colorado residents can also choose to use their vouchers for private schools and other OOS publics.

My question is then ... how can the State of Colorado afford that?

hoedown

That's tuition for "continuing education" for non-degree candidates. Regular undergrads paid $5,418 for resident and $21,900 for nonresident at Boulder last year. Tuition has risen quite a bit since the College Opportunity Fund went into effect. Partly that's because the COF also came with provisions that got the universities out from under TABOR restrictions, but also because the funding was such a bad deal for a research U like CU-Boulder.

The information I have states that the voucher can NOT be used out of state. It can be used at two private schools in Colorado, but only if the student is Pell-eligible, and its value is 50% what it would be for publics.

The Rocky Mountain News and the Denver Post have recently posted some criticism of the program and how it has not worked as intended.

Your question of affordability for the State is still a good one, even if the program is different from what you were told. The state slashed the stipend considerably since they first proposed it. That's why tuition has gone up--although it still remains quite a bargain for residents. Colorado institutions are have long been poorly funded and that trend has not been greatly improved by the COF.

GoBlue81

My mistake. The tuition and fees for non-resident is $23,580 for 2007-08, compared to $12,210 for resident (with the voucher, resident student pays $5,922).

But how does it really work? How can the university afford to provide the big tuition discount for resident students if the state slashes the funding to the university considerably?

Alexandre

Since this thread has departed its original mission, I will take this opportunity to say that Michigan ROCKS! Yeah baby!

jec7483

I haven't followed this thread, but I assume Michigan's biggest weakness would probably be their eroding football program. I also hear the girls are not the best looking. Overall, a very good school, minus those two things and the weather.

Alexandre

jec, Michigan's football program is not eroding and you heard wrong about Michigan girls.

Michigan's football program is two years removed from an 11-2m top 10 season, where its only regular season loss was at #1 OSU by a score of 38-41...the day after the death of Bo Schembechler. Last year wasn't a good season, but Michigan still beat PSU, Notre Dame and defending National Champions Florida.

As for the girls in Michigan, they are, only the whole, quite a fun, intelligent, down-to-earth and attractive bunch.

draftnik12

Well the basketball team certainly isn't strong...

I do like the baseball team though. Went to a few games last year and loved the new Wilpon Complex. Definitely one of the more underrated events on campus. Tickets are only $5-7 per game, and there generally is a decent size crowd at the games. It doesn't hurt that Michigan is to Big Ten baseball what Memphis is to C-USA basketball.

Alexandre

Basketball is definitely a weakness. I really don't understand what's taking so long. NCAA sanctions on the program were lifted 4 years ago. You would expect Michigan to be in a position to at least compete for the conference title, but it is not even close.

Tsukasa36

is Michigan Mechanical Engineering really ranked #2? I thought it was 4th. WOW Now I can brag to my friends about my major. I am also excited about Hockey, Michigan Hockey has been always good. We should have beaten Notre Dame this year.

Alexandre

I think it was #2 a couple of years ago but has dropped back to #4 last year. Definitely one of the top 5 Mechanical Engineering departments in the US.

inspirdbyacause

The real problem with Michigan is that half of its board of Regents is made up of people who never attended the university in the first place. How can non-Alums dictate how to run the school? They lack decision making from the students' POV. They have no respect for Michigan traditions (the Diag gradutaion fiasco) and shamelessly put money only into ventures that will create a bigger profit for themselves (Crisler, the Big House, etc). What they SHOULD be doing is investing in their student body. That means lower tuition, a smaller entering class size (especially in regard to good for nothing in-state kids), and slightly increased salaries for professors (so they don't jump ship like they recently did in the PoliSci department). They should work to improve the overall quality of the school; more outlets in the UGLi and wireless access in all of the libraries would be nice to name a few things. If the school invests in its students, one day those same students will be more inclined to give back. Not only would this be good for the school financially, but it would also make our rankings go up (alumni contribution %).

Something that I just found out was that the Regents are elected in a *state-wide* election only; the procedure should be revised to include all alumni in voting and exclude non-alums from the board. Michigan administration should be reserved for those who understand the school and its students, not for rogue state residents who want to make a buck for themselves.

On that note, I'd like to say despite its problems I have great pride in going to school here. You can't truly love a place without recognizing its shortcomings.

Go Blue!

Alexandre

Excellent point inspirdbyacause. There seems to be a lot of outsiders involved in the decision making process of the University of Michigan. That never happens at private universities.