Whitmer to target male 'gender gap' across Michigan community colleges
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer believes the state needs to do more to increase enrollment with young men "in these times" ahead of her State of the State address.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer is expected to sign an executive order aimed at increasing the enrollment of young men in Michigan’s higher education and skills training programs.
Ahead of her remarks in front of policymakers Wednesday, Whitmer’s office says the state should be giving extra attention to young men. Lawmakers must do a better job getting eligible young men enrolled in higher education, a spokesperson for the governor said in a statement Monday.
The governor’s office did not offer more details after providing the brief in an email through a spokesperson.
Women are outpacing men 2-1 in attaining college degrees and certificates through a popular state program that offers free tuition at community colleges for residents 25 and older who haven’t earned a college degree, according to the governor’s office.
“But in all our higher education programs, there’s a gender gap,” a spokesperson said in an email. “Women outnumber men at community colleges, universities, and in Michigan Reconnect, where enrollment is 2-1, women to men…. This is a top priority we hear from parent groups that want to see their sons not left behind in these times.”
Michigan Reconnect is part of the Whitmer administration effort to increase the number of Michiganders, aged 25 to 64, who hold a college degree to 60% by 2030.
The program has allowed Michiganders and older can have a tuition-free pathway to an associates degree or skills certificate. The program has helped boost the number of working-age adults with a certificate or degree to 45% in 2019 to 52% now, according to a report from the Senate Fiscal Agency.
Whitmer is set to outline her 2025 agenda at her seventh State of the State address Wednesday. She’ll have to advance it within a split government again after voters in 2024 elected Republicans to control the state House. Democrats controlled all three branches of government from 2022-2024, the first time in 40 years.
“We’ve built great programs open to everyone, but we need to do a better job of helping get more young men signed up,” the governor’s office wrote.
Reconnect was created in 2020 to provide financial assistance to students aged 25 and older seeking an associate's degree or an industry-recognized certificate or credential.
State leaders have called it a second chance. In 2023, the program was temporarily expanded for residents 21 and older. Lawmakers have made efforts to make permanent the age of the program from 25 to 21 to make more people eligible.
More than 40,000 people across Wayne County have taken advantage in the largest effort in state history to educate young residents who never received a degree.
In spring 2024, there were 22,325 people enrolled in college who were a part of the Reconnect program. More than 200,000 people have applied.
Students who qualify for a grant under the Michigan Reconnect program pursuing a degree or certificate at a community college can receive an award of up to full in-district tuition and mandatory fees for their program of study.
A spokesperson for the governor did not return a call for additional comment about how the program will focus specifically on young men.
The total dollar amount in the proposed education budget is $21.2 billion. The proposal boosts base per-pupil funding from $9,608 to $10,000. The plans also include funding for families with costs of childcare and pre-K education.
At a presentation of the governor’s fiscal year budget during a House and Senate appropriations committee meeting earlier this month, where Republicans questioned why statewide test scores haven’t improved despite increases in funding, Jen Flood, Whitmer’s budget director agreed the state must do better.
Only 24% of the state’s 4th graders scored proficient in standardized reading tests in 2024, well below the national average, according to a National Assessment of Educational Progress report released last month.
The scores don’t tell the whole story, but represent a snapshot into student success.
In 2024, Black students had an average score that was 32 points lower than that for White students. Students who were identified as economically disadvantaged had an average score that was 30 points lower than that for students who were identified as not economically disadvantaged. Neither performance gap is significantly different from scores in 1998.
"Unfortunately, Michigan is a part of that trend, and we all need to do better," Flood said.
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The budget proposal totals $83.5 billion. The budget also includes $34.8 billion in federal funds — 41.7% of the total budget. Michigan’s next fiscal year begins Oct. 1.
Whitmer sat next to President Donald Trump at the White House Saturday for the National Governors Association dinner, telling the Detroit Free Press she took an oath to put the state’s interest above her political party and her own.
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While Democratic governors in California, Massachusetts and Illinois have said they’re ready to fight against Trump administration policies, Michigan’s Democratic governor has taken a softer approach, saying she wants to find common ground.
It’s a stark contrast to the beginning of the COVID pandemic at the end of the first Trump administration, when the president’s, “That woman from Michigan,” quip while criticizing Whitmer became a rallying cry for Democratic supporters.
If mass transit funding is reduced and not fully funded the hopes to have the populations she's trying to offer opportunities to will fail and keep failing. Young males are at times targeted by LEOs to have their license to drive revoked, or put sentencing on them that prevents access to certain opportunities.
When ACCESS is denied the segregated opportunities hang wilting unable to be accessed.
The push for Roads has to be in proportion to mass transit empowering underprivileged communities from access. We also have to ensure jobs in mass transit are funded at least as well as those roads construction jobs.
Economic Growth Corporations need to make regional mass transit a priority. Michigan will continue to be passed over by major employers as it keeps ignoring the mobility issue for so many disadvantaged commuters.