The author of this article writes:
"Michigan is 32nd in per capita income and 32nd is four year degree attainment. If the state doesn’t substantially increase the proportion of adults with a four year degree or more we almost certainly will be a low-prosperity state long term. End of story!"
Michigan will have to do a much better job of not only funding appropriately higher education but a better job increasing degree completion rates. That will take more work in retention programs for entering freshman and sophomores. The retention programs need to be monitored more by the state to make sure that colleges and universities have effective programs and they are benchmarking. Just having a president say they are doing a good job and they are the best at retention is not good enough. What is the program for retention, how effective is it and how much does it cost? The easy job for an institution is only admitting freshman with GPAs over 3.0 to 3.5 and very high SAT/ACT scores. State aid ought to be based on (among other things) how many eligible Pell students are admitted, how many first generation students are admitted and how does the retention program impact them.
If Michigan wants to be in the top 10 in degree completion then it has a long way to go from 32nd four year degree attainment.
It is worth the work and the commitment. It is important for Michigan and other states.
This article is worth a read and worth serious debate.
http://www.michiganfuture.org/03/2017/college-attainment-drives-state-per-capita-income/