Every Michigan high school graduate could receive a $5,500 a year scholarship to attend an in-state university, under a plan proposed by Michigan House Republican leadership. (MLive file photo)Jacob Hamilton
Every Michigan high school graduate could receive a $5,500 a year scholarship to attend an in-state university, and K-12 schools would receive 25% more funding for each student.
Those are two major education proposals announced Wednesday by House Speaker Matt Hall, R-Richland Township, at the Mackinac Policy Conference on Mackinac Island.
Hall said the proposals – to be detailed later in the House’s education budget – are a bid to make higher education more affordable, keep students and young people in the state, and give K-12 schools the resources they need.
“There are different estimates (of annual university tuition), but I think that if every year they’re getting a $5,500 scholarship, that’ll really bite into that pretty good and help with the affordability for our universities,” Hall said. “But we want Michigan students to be going to Michigan universities and colleges and community colleges.”
Michigan currently offers the Michigan Achievement Scholarship, which gives Michigan high school graduates up to $5,500 a year toward attending an in-state university or college for up to five years.
However, students must demonstrate financial need to receive the scholarship.
Hall said his proposed scholarship would be open to all Michigan high school graduates, with funding for up to four years of college or university.
The scholarships would extend to those going to community college, with every Michigan high school graduate being eligible for $2,750 a year to attend community college.
Michigan already offers tuition-free community college for all high school graduates in the state. Hall’s office said that would remain in place.
Hall didn’t say whether the scholarships, if adopted in the upcoming budget, would be granted to current college students or only graduating high school classes after a certain year.
In addition to the college scholarships, Hall said the House will draft a K-12 education budget with a 25% increase in how much schools receive per student.
That amount, called per-pupil funding, is currently set at $9,608 per student. Hall is calling for that to be increased to $12,000 per student.
“That’s going to reflect that we’re going to empower and trust our local school districts,” he said of the increase.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s budget plan calls for per-pupil funding to be increased to $10,000 per student, while the Senate Democrat plan calls for $10,008 per student.
Related: Michigan teachers would see higher pay under Senate Democrats’ $21.8B education budget
It wasn’t immediately clear how much total additional funding the House’s per-pupil increase would generate for schools.
Some of the per-pupil funding will come from moving around money that schools already receive but are restricted in how they spend it, Hall’s office told MLive. By getting rid of some restricted funding and moving it to per-pupil funding, schools would be able to spend it how they see fit.
The announcement of sizable investments in K-12 education comes as public education advocates in the state are exploring a statewide ballot initiative that would tax the incomes of the state’s wealthiest earners for more K-12 funding.
According to a 2023 study from the Education Law Center, it would cost an estimated $4.5 billion to fill major funding gaps in Michigan’s local school districts.
Related: Taxing Michigan’s wealthiest to boost K-12 funding focus of potential ballot initiative
The specifics behind how House Republicans plan to pay for the per-pupil funding increase and the expanded scholarship aren’t fully available.
For the per-pupil increase, some of the dollars would come from shifting around restricted money already given to districts.
Hall said funding would also come from getting rid of “a lot of the regulations” and slashing earmark funding, especially for businesses. Earmark funding is state money appropriated each budget to specific local governments, universities, nonprofits and businesses.
Individual earmarks can sometimes total tens of millions of dollars. These funds have a wide variety of uses, from new parks, firetrucks and housing developments to theater restorations and wastewater treatment plant repairs.
In the current budget, Michigan has more than $2 billion in earmark funding, according to the Citizens Research Council of Michigan.
Hall’s office did not immediately return a request for comment about whether any education programming or funding would also be cut to fund the proposals.
It also wasn’t immediately clear when the House would unveil and begin advancing their budget. The Senate passed its budget earlier this month, although it will have to be reworked in part due to lower state revenue expectations.
Hall said his chamber would start moving their budget “soon,” but he wouldn’t commit to meeting the July 1 deadline required by state law for the Legislature to set a state budget. He said Senate Democrats are looking for a government shutdown and to blame him for it.
“We’re going to do our best to get a deal,” Hall said. “But with this group, I think it’s going to be well after July 1, and that’s OK because if we take our time, we’re going to do something much better and we’re going to finally fund all of these big priorities for the people of Michigan.
The Senate and House must agree on a budget to send to Whitmer before Oct. 1, the start of the state’s next fiscal year.
The House earlier this year passed a plan that would cut about $5 billion from education. According to House Republicans, that’s meant to be a stopgap to continue essential services if lawmakers can’t agree on a budget by Sept. 30.
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