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<p>Lol. Um…no.</p>
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Less than 4.4% of U-M’s budget comes from state funds. Michigan is the most private public university in the country.</p>
<p>I’m not going to argue here any further. I didn’t know you were only 16 years old. Frankly, I’m no longer really concerned with your opinion.</p>
<p>Even if 0% of UM’s budget came from state funds or if it were a net generator of revenue it would still not be a private institution. Being revenue neutral is not synonymous with being a private institution. That is not to say that UM is not say that UM’s fiscal independence and massive endowment aren’t an important part of what distinguishes UM from other public universities. </p>
<p>As a basis of comparison UMass-Amherst, the flagship in a wealthy state with a GDP slightly larger than that of Michigan, has a private endowment of just $260 million. I can’t find campus specific data, but the UMass system receives roughly 40% of its funding from the state.</p>
<p>OP’s question is understandable. Before looking into it people may wonder about this since UM is public. But as Kronomega and others have said UM’s financial profile is much closer to a private U than a public U. And when you learn the facts, it’s actually quite ironic how Detroit can be in such bad shape financially, and UM can be so off-the-charts flush with cash.</p>
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<p>OK, and riddle me this: How much does the University of Michigan get from the City of Detroit’s tax base? </p>
<p>Answer: Not one thin dime.</p>
<p>Question: OK, but what about the State of Michigan’s tax base? Surely the university is dependent on that, and surely that is jeopardized by the City of Detroit’s economic woes?</p>
<p>Answer: Well, as others have pointed out, the State of Michigan currently supplies less than 5% of the university’s total revenue. And actually, notwithstanding Detroit’s bankruptcy, the State of Michigan is presently flush with cash. The political fights in Lansing are about where to spend the surplus, not where to cut. </p>
<p>[Michigan’s</a> revenue projected to be $542M more than expected | Crain’s Detroit Business](<a href=“http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20130514/NEWS01/130519951/michigans-revenue-projected-to-be-542m-more-than-expected#]Michigan’s”>http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20130514/NEWS01/130519951/michigans-revenue-projected-to-be-542m-more-than-expected#)</p>
<p>Motor vehicle sales are up. Housing prices are up. State tax revenues are up. Unemployment is down. Yes, there are still a lot of people out of work and many people were hit hard by the recent recession, but overall the State of Michigan’s fiscal situation is quite strong. But even if it weren’t–and it hasn’t been at times over the last 30 to 40 years–the University of Michigan has managed to build an endowment and a diverse set of revenue streams that have allowed it to weather even the most turbulent times in the State of Michigan’s fiscal history, to the point that it is now less dependent on state tax revenue than any public university in the country. And this is not a particularly difficult time, fiscally speaking, for the State of Michigan, notwithstanding the City of Detroit’s bankruptcy.</p>
<p>The City of Detroit got into serious fiscal problems because even as it lost industry and population (mostly to its own suburbs which, in case you haven’t noticed, are also part of the State of Michigan), it continued to spend as if its were a much larger city with a much larger tax base. And things got seriously out of whack when the City of Detroit, with encouragement from Wall Street, put forward some truly outrageous debt deals that put it in the position of financing short-term spending by long-term borrowing, much as New York City had done in the 1970s when it very nearly went bankrupt. </p>
<p>[How</a> Detroit went broke: The answers may surprise you — and don’t blame Coleman Young | Detroit Free Press | freep.com](<a href=“http://www.freep.com/article/20130915/NEWS01/130801004/Detroit-Bankruptcy-history-1950-debt-pension-revenue]How”>http://www.freep.com/article/20130915/NEWS01/130801004/Detroit-Bankruptcy-history-1950-debt-pension-revenue)</p>
<p>But the City of Detroit’s fiscal crisis today has about as much effect on the University of Michigan as New York City’s fiscal crisis had on Columbia and Cornell in the 1970s. Which is to say, approximately zero, zip, nada. There’s just no fiscal relationship between the two entities. The City of Detroit spent more than it had, and borrowed to cover that short-term gap which only put it further in the hole until the day of reckoning came and it could no longer meet its debt obligations. How, pray tell, does that affect the University of Michigan, which by all accounts has been an exemplary and prudent financial manager with assets far exceeding its debts? It doesn’t.</p>
<p>^ Show me the money.
If Michigan is expecting a surplus, I want to see they repay the K12 school funding cut. I want to see the long overdue promised State income tax cut.
Anyway, State does not help UMich much. Its UMich helping the Michigan economy.</p>
<p><a href=“iv”>quote</a> Evidence to support what assertions? Like 2 of 3 M grads leaving the state when they get a degree, 8.9% unemployment rate, our largest city is bankrupt and the most violent in the nation, the Metro Detroit region economy is sagging, from 2000-2010 Michigan was the only state to lose population. Yup, things are fantastic here!
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So it’s bad when graduates leave the state now? Are we striving for 100% graduate retention here for the state? What’s wrong with 2/3? A third is plenty. What city is 8.9% unemployment rate for? Is it Ann Arbor? You better not mention it’s for the state because we are clearly going in circles. Remember University of Zimbabwe?
To be honest, since you are so frightened with the state of Michigan’s economy in the future, why not attend elsewhere where the population hasn’t declined in the past 10 years? Do yourself a favor and let the state ‘rot’ on its own, yeah? </p>
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That’s a cute opinion, but do you have any facts to back this claim?
It’s like saying when I pee in the toilet, it will rain acid in the next few months. I think they are correlated. I must stop peeing in toilets now. I don’t care what you guys tell me. Peeing will cause acid rain in the weeks to come. I don’t care what you guys say. I made up my mind and you guys are idiots for not seeing this. Just watch.</p>
<p>The 8.9% is the state of Michigan’s unemployment rate, 4th worst in the nation.</p>
<p>You guys are right; a depressed state, a depressed region and a bankrupt Detroit have zero impact on the state’s flagship public University. I’m done with this thread. I question if some of you in here even graduated from Ann Arbor.</p>
<p>Detroit is not doing well. My grandparents moved west from Dearborn in mid-50’s, when Detroit was doing pretty well. Why? More opportunity. People move for all kinds of reasons. </p>
<p>If 40% attend UMich because they are from out of state, does it surprise anyone that about that same number would leave once they finish their degrees? It is nearly impossible to gain resident status for purposes of OOS tuition, so they are paying at a higher rate and likely need to find jobs to help pay back student debt. People go where there are jobs.</p>
<p>Full disclosure: I didn’t attend UM. I attended another school in California which has it’s own problems. My D attends Michigan. </p>
<p>And she will leave to attend grad school outside of state, because UM does not have that program. Will she come back? Probably not. The winters are brutal.</p>
<p>Yes, Michigan’s population is going down. Even in Ann Arbor, the school district may need to close a couple schools. The Michigan State economy may discourage some student to come but it seems it has not been the case as the number of oos applicants and enrolled students kept increasing. But the bankruptcy of Detroit City (not Detroit area) has little impact in the Michigan State economy. The City of Detroit is just a local government body. What are affected are the residents of Detroit and more so the civil servants and contracted workers for the City. There is very little contribution to the unemployed rate of the whole Michigan State due to the bankruptcy of Detroit City. Detroit represents the State of Michigan is because of the automobile industry, not the City government. The discussion has never been on “would the economy of Michigan affect the University of Michigan?”. Do not change subject or try to confuse other people.</p>
<p>Disclosure:
I had worked at the University for 4 years and I have been living in Ann Arbor for over 14 years.</p>
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<p>[Ann</a> Arbor, Michigan - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“Ann Arbor, Michigan - Wikipedia”>Ann Arbor, Michigan - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>Detroit’s issues most certainly tarnish the perception of the entire state, which include its public university system. To everyone on the East and West coast, Detroit is synonymous with Michigan. Most of them think Michigan is Detroit and farm land, period. It is definitely not a good thing for the University of Michigan when the NY Times, WSJ and USA Today are all writing about Detroit’s corruption, bankruptcy or unemployment rate. You can’t expect non-residents to know or care about the intricacies of the state you reside in.</p>
<p>As for someone calling Michigan “almost a private”: on Saturday they said the state covers 17% of general fund (not 5% as some erroneously posted). Last I checked, tax payers built this public system over the past two centuries. And tuition is still a steal for in-state students, at $13k a year. It was also explained that the state budget has been in bad shape, so they continue to cut funding, requiring Michigan to raise the cost tuition.</p>
<p>online source: [url=<a href=“http://www.vpcomm.umich.edu/pa/key/understandingtuition.html]understandingtuition[/url”>http://www.vpcomm.umich.edu/pa/key/understandingtuition.html]understandingtuition[/url</a>]</p>
<p>@Parent08765 The State of Michigan contributes approximately $270 Million to U-M out of approximately a $6.4 Billion budget. That’s where I got the <5% figure. It’s not fair to only consider the general fund because that’s only one of the 4 large funds being spent on U-M students and other relevant activities.</p>
<p>Michigan is as private (at least when it comes to funding) as a public university can get. </p>
<p>That being said, $270M is still a ton of money. Had the allocation this year been fixed to the aid from 2002 in inflation adjusted dollars per student it would have been at over $500M today. That still means that the university was responsible for plugging a couple hundred million dollar per year hole, which they did magnificently (by an extremely effective emphasis on private revenue). Surprisingly, the average net cost including financial aid for a UM student has increased at a rate less than inflation over the last decade.</p>
<p>As for your comment on Detroit’s position possibly hurting the perception of the university to prospective students, you might be right. But there is a very distinct difference between the perception of Detroit’s bankruptcy hurting U-M and whether or not it actually is. Most students (especially top ones) do a lot of research of every aspect of any university they are considering before making their final decision. I have a very strong suspicion that that it’s only going to hold influence on an extremely small minority of potential students.</p>
<p>Put it this way, 270M is $17,300 per instate undergraduate student. The state effectively subsidizes that much of each undergrad student a year.</p>
<p>Parent08765… as for the comment about the general fund vs. the total funds for Umich. The general fund only accounts for 20-30% of University of Michigan’s budget. An older break down form 2008 is below:</p>
<p>[U-M</a> Budget Update - University Budget - Understanding the Budget](<a href=“http://www.vpcomm.umich.edu/budget/understanding.html]U-M”>http://www.vpcomm.umich.edu/budget/understanding.html)</p>
<p>A more recent number from 2013-2014 is on page 4 of a 111 page document</p>
<p><a href=“Office of Budget and Planning”>Office of Budget and Planning;
<p>The other funding supplying the Umich is not so heavily dependent on the state. This means the the actual state funding really is in the 5%-10% range. While not a private school, every year Umich becomes less and less dependent on the state of Michigan. </p>
<p>No I can’t expect people to understand the intricacies of Michigan’s public Univeristy system; however, it would be great if they could read some posts here on CC and understand the truth that University of Michigan dependence on the state funding is relatively minor. It shouldn’t be a criteria for a student deciding to attend the University of Michigan.</p>
<p>“To everyone on the East and West coast, Detroit is synonymous with Michigan. Most of them think Michigan is Detroit and farm land, period.”</p>
<p>Most could not be that dumb…even coasties.</p>
<p>The guy claiming that people on the coasts think Detroit is synonymous with Michigan is talking out of his ass. First of all, it’s really not even a viable topic of discussion because it’s not a quantifiable thing we can measure, so it’s really just a matter of speculation and conjecture.</p>
<p>Anecdotally, as someone who is actually from the west coast (Los Angeles), my experiences talking to fellow students about the perception of Michigan could not be further from this Detroit = Michigan claim. UofM is HEAVILY respected amongst everyone I"ve talked to and the city of Detroit doesn’t even enter the conversation, and of the key schools in the main LA area I am familiar with, Michigan has only seen its popularity and attractiveness increase over the past few years. So while I don’t have hard figures to back up what I’m saying, at least from the perspective of a guy who’s lived in LA his whole life and has a pretty solid handle of how college-age students view colleges, Michigan = Detroit is utter and total BS.</p>
<p>I am from Los Angeles. Nobody I know thinks anything less of UM because of Detroit. </p>
<p>Most of us “coasties” aren’t dumb. ;)</p>
<p>From the other coast: last year two of the top students in my kids’ private school applied to 8 schools each and UM was the only public for either of them. The valedictorian (who was bff w one of my D’s) was torn b/t UM, Princeton and MIT. She choose Princeton at the last moment. The other girl chose UM. Just another coastal anecdote.</p>
<p>why on earth is this thread getting so much attention it makes absolutely no sense what so ever</p>