Here's Post No. 4 from Lou Glazer, the president of Ann Arbor-based Michigan Future Inc., a think-tank that is a resource of ideas for how Michigan can and should reshape its economy. Check back daily for more of Glazer's thoughts.
Post No. 4
Posted By: Lou Glazer
Posted: 1/23/2007
Unfortunately,
after decades of building a world-class higher education system,
Michigan has been under-investing in our universities and community
colleges for years. Since 2000 state funding for higher education has
been cut. Policy makers have consistently ranked higher education as a
lower priority than tax cuts, k-12 education, prisons and health care.
If that’s not bad enough, within the higher education budget the trend
has been to fund more generously the non-research universities, rather
than the three major research universities. From an economic
development perspective, this makes no sense.
Its time for a change!
We need civic, business and political leadership (as they are doing in
leading edge communities across the planet) to put research
universities at the center of our economic growth strategy.