<p>You could argue any press is good press for Michigan/Detroit. Still, most colleges won’t be affected by Detroit’s bankruptcy except for maybe Wayne State. As for commuters at GVSU and Oakland, Oakland is much more of a commuter school than Grand Valley State University. I would say about 15% or so of GVSU students commute (living with their parents commuting, not counting off campus apartments). Oakland is probably at least 50% or so commuters if not more. </p>
<p>Still if I had to merge or close universities in Michigan I would have a list of those that should close first:</p>
<ol>
<li>Lake Superior State (too many colleges in the Upper Peninsula)</li>
<li>Northern Michigan (too many college in the Upper Peninsula)</li>
<li>University of Michigan - Flint (don’t really need a college in Flint, doesn’t really stick out in any area except maybe having the University of Michigan name)</li>
<li>Saginaw Valley State (I wouldn’t close SVSU, but if you had to it could go. It is in a small population area and is a younger school)</li>
<li>Eastern Michigan (I wouldn’t close EMU, but it does have a lot of colleges near it. Plus, Ypsilianti is a crappy town and pretty much every major state university is good at teacher preparation in Michigan.)</li>
</ol>