Peters Visits Mott Community College in Flint to Highlight Bipartisan Legislation to Make College More Affordable & Accessible
FLINT, MI – U.S. Senator Gary Peters (MI) today visited Mott Community College in Flint to highlight bipartisan, bicameral legislation he introduced to expand options for high school students to obtain college credit, making higher education more affordable and accessible while improving high school and college graduation rates. Peters’ Making Education Affordable and Accessible Act (MEAA) would expand access to dual and concurrent enrollment programs and early/middle college programs by providing grants to institutions of higher education. Peters was joined today by Dr. Beverly Walker-Griffea, President of Mott Community College, Margaret Green, Principal of Mott Middle College, Dr. Chery Wagonlander, Director of the Michigan Early Middle College Association, and students currently enrolled in Mott Middle College.
“Supporting Flint’s students now and in the future is critical as Flint works to overcome the water crisis,” said Senator Peters. “The dual and concurrent enrollment and middle college programs at Mott Community College are great examples of the kind of initiatives that give more students a shot at higher education. Cost should never be a barrier to motivated students who are seeking quality skills training and higher education, and I’m proud to ensure that student loans don’t become an insurmountable obstacle to a strong financial future.”
“Expanding opportunities for students to earn college credit helps create a stronger future for our youth, and our communities,” said Dr. Beverly Walker-Griffea, President, Mott Community College. “As a leader in early college and dual enrollment programs for decades, Mott College supports Senator Peters’ Making Education Affordable and Accessible Act. This Act will make college more affordable and accessible by supporting dual enrollment and middle colleges like Mott Middle College, enabling students to achieve their educational and career goals.”
“As the first middle college in Michigan, Mott Middle College is committed to supporting students from diverse economic backgrounds in achieving success in their future careers,” said Margaret Green, Principal, Mott Middle College. “Mott Middle College exposes students to new ideas outside the traditional high school curriculum that gives them the confidence to take on new challenges as college students excel academically.”
“On behalf of the Michigan Early Middle College Association (MEMCA) and its twenty-three Michigan-member early middle college schools and sixty-seven early college programs, it is with excitement and appreciation that MEMCA supports the Making Education Affordable and Accessible Act (MEAA),” said Chery Wagonlander, Director of the Michigan Early Middle College Association. “This bill would lessen the financial burden significantly for these highly effective K16 models of collaboration, thus providing greater equity and access across the state of Michigan to students who will leave high school not only college and career ready but higher education experienced.”
MEAA, which Peters introduced with Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Congressmen Jared Polis (D-CO) and Tom Reed (R-NY), provides grants to institutions of higher education that can be used to:
- Carry out dual and concurrent enrollment programs as well as early/middle college programming – this includes covering tuition and fees, books, and required instructional materials for a program so that students will not be required to pay tuition or fees for postsecondary courses;
- Provide teachers in these programs with professional development; and
- Support activities such as course design, course approval processes, community outreach, student counseling and support services.
Mott Middle College is the first middle college to open in Michigan, and the first middle college in the country to pull students from multiple school districts. Currently, 341 students from across multiple school districts in Genesee County are enrolled in the school, with most students taking college classes through dual enrollment starting at 10th grade.
Mott Middle College emphasizes access and equity, with the unique purpose of teaching students from a wide variety of economic backgrounds how to be full-fledged college students. Anywhere from 7-20% of students will have earned at least one or more associates degrees by graduation, and students are required to complete a 60-hour unpaid internship prior to graduation.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) early college students on average earn 36 college credits, and 30% of early college students earn an associate’s degree. There are 23 early/middle college high schools and 67 early/middle college programs in Michigan alone. The National Alliance on Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships estimates 1.9 million high school students enrolled in a college course during the 2014-2015 school year.
Last year, Peters introduced an amendment with U.S. Senator Cory Gardner (R-CO) to the bipartisan Every Child Achieves Act, which was signed into law in December. The amendment allows Title I funds to be used to support concurrent and dual enrollment programs at eligible schools, enabling high school students to simultaneously receive college-credit from courses taught by college approved teachers in secondary education. It also allows school districts to use fifth-year program partnerships to allow students to participate in concurrent enrollment in the year after their senior year.
