Davenport University has heard this message and has stepped up to the plate to roll out the red carpet and welcome the unemployed to it’s campuses. Davenport has made a commitment to provide a 25% tuition discount to any current or potential student (who is unemployed) that attends any of the 14 campuses it has located in Michigan.

The following is a quote from Larry Polselli, vice president for enrollment and student development at Davenport U: “Current economic environments across the state of Michigan have created challenges for many. With 14 campuses across the state and programs tied to today’s jobs, Davenport University is uniquely positioned to help students by extending this tuition discount when people need it most.”

Qualifications and rules governing this tuition discount program is fairly simple:

• Any current student who can show documentation of current unemployment will be eligible for the 25 percent discount (Unemployment letter, paycheck stub, confirmation page, etc.)
• Students who are underemployed and currently in a Michigan Works program and can provide Michigan Works documentation will be eligible for the 25 percent discount.
• The discount will be applied for the entire financial aid year that it is awarded.
• The discount is not retroactive and may not be combined with other tuition or scholarship offers.

I did some calculations and the estimated annual tuition at Davenport University for the 2010-2011 academic year is $11,544 assuming the student attends full time (12 credit hours each semester). Based upon the 25% discount, you will be saving $2,886. That is a huge savings that Davenport is presenting to it’s unemployed students.

If you live in the Michigan area, are unemployed, and looking to continue your education, I certainly recommend that you look into this opportunity provided by Davenport University. Davenport also manages an extensive online undergraduate degree program in the fields of Business, Health, and Technology. At the time of this article, I am unclear as to whether the discount is applicable to their online unemployed students. However, it never hurts to ask…

Davenport University boasts an enrollment of 11,000 students, maintains their flagship campus in Grand Rapids, Michigan and provides satellite campuses in Alma, Battle Creek, Caro, Flint, Gaylord, Kalamazoo, Lansing, Livonia, Midland, Saginaw, Traverse City, and Warren. If you would like to learn more about Davenport University, you can stop by their website anytime.

As an outsider (not residing in the state of Michigan), it appears that all the Michigan colleges and universities are digging deep to compete with each other to attract and retain quality college students. Their efforts are driven by an uncertain state budget outlook for the coming year. However, the true winner in this situation will be the students attending these schools.

Eastern Michigan University (EMU) is marketing their no increase program as “0-0-0″ (meaning zero tuition increases, zero room rate increases, and zero board plan rate increases). It is apparently creating quite a buzz with incoming and returning students alike. Some students stated that they were entertaining the option of transferring somewhere cheaper but now they have decided to stay for another year. Below is an example of their marketing campaign:

Tuition and Mandatory fees for the 2010-2011 academic year at EMU are as follows:

Additional fee information for Eastern Michigan University can be found here.

Higher education has always been a competitive market but it certainly looks like a great time to be a student in the state of Michigan!

The trustees for the University voted to increase room and board fees by 5.1%. With this increase, basic room and board charges for those living in the residence halls will be $7,770.

Assuming an eleventh hour tuition increase is not in the works, the following reflects the tuition rates for the upcoming 2010-2011 academic year:

Source: Michigan State University Fee Schedule

I would like to applaud MSU for attempting to keep their tuition rates under control even though the state of Michigan still struggles to keep a balanced budget. The students and families that attend MSU are sure to be very appreciative.

Lansing Community College

LCC is presenting an intensive 6 week training program that can provide students the opportunity to become a Pharmacy Technician, Customer Service/Call Center Specialist, Quality Control Inspector, or a CNC Machinist. The costs of the programs range from $2,150 to $2,500 and half of the costs are due up front and the remainder can be paid in monthly installments after the student has successfully obtained employment. No federal financial aid is available for these programs.

The following is the time line for the programs:

Even though it may be too late to get into this first session, you may want to look at future sessions to see about space availability. It is certainly a great opportunity to quickly gain some job skills and the money back guarantee can’t be beat!

For more information, you can contact LCC’s Business & Community Institute at (517) 483-1857or bci@lcc.edu

At first, I thought this seemed a little insane but the logic behind the education program for prisoners actually makes some sense. Prisoners that are released from incarceration have a higher chance of being a repeat offender and costing the tax payers more money if they don’t have an education or a trade skill to help them obtain gainful employment after prison.

As seen in this article (written by two life-sentenced convicts), the state of Michigan is currently trying to cure their budget woes and one of the programs on the chopping block is the education program for the prisoners. They site Malcom X in their support of the education of prisoners. “As Malcolm X said, education is a passport to the future. National studies show that college classes cut recidivism(repeat offenders returning to prison) by 30% or more. That would make a pretty good investment for state taxpayers. Are we a nation that rehabilitates and rebuilds those who make mistakes, or are we a nation that believes in revenge above redemption?”

Ok.. so back to the topic at hand… Is it worth going to jail to get free college? There certainly appears to be some cost-benefits of utilizing that approach to getting an education. The state would provide you with free room and board. Plenty of extracurricular activities are sure to be available during your downtime. Imagine all the street smarts that you would gain while being behind bars. The question though, what  law can you break that will guarantee you to only serve four-five years and then be released.  You know.. because you obviously do not want to spend more time in jail than you would in college.

Definitely a little bit out of the ordinary but it does give you some food for thought…