<p>Hey everyone,
I am very familiar with the state of Michigan since essentially my whole family is from the area. My parents also both attended Umich and have had several relatives attend Michigan State. My question concerns how the University is going to deal with the poor economy throughout the state. As I'm sure everyone knows, the Auto industry is as good as gone and this lack of tax revenue makes me nervous when it comes to a state university like Michigan. How can one be assured that Michigan will retain its reputable name in face of so much in state economic struggle? It is not as if businesses are lining up to work in Michigan due to the strict labor laws and the poor weather. I'm sure Alexandre will have an answer to this question but I am curious to see what others have to say as well.</p>
<p>good question</p>
<p>Very interesting question. This came up a lot in my econ courses at Northwestern. Some of the professors there were doing a lot of research concerning the state of Michigan's economy.</p>
<p>worst come to worst the state of michigan can cut their pathetic 7% funding in Umich's overall budget and umich wont give a damn about the state anymore......</p>
<p>The University has taken the necessary measures to minimize dependency on the economic prosperity of the state. At this stage, Michigan's operating budget is roughly $2 billion (not including the university Hospitals, which run themselves and require no assistance from the state), of which roughly only $350 million (17%) comes from the state. Obviously, state funding is important, but it plays a small part in the overall budget of the university.</p>
<p>From a job placement point of view, the Big 3, that at one time represented a serious chunk of recruitment on campus, are now hardly felt on campus, primarily because of a lack of interest on the part of the student body. </p>
<p>I would say less than 1% of Ross students join the Big 3 at this stage. </p>
<p>The College of Engineering is slightly more dependent, with roughly 14% of all Engineers joining the automotive industry.</p>
<p>There have been a few articles in the [Daily[/url</a>] on related topics. Apparently, donations from automakers are mixed while graduates look elsewhere for employment.</p>
<p><a href="http://media.www.michigandaily.com/media/storage/paper851/news/2007/04/13/State/Still.Donating-2840449.shtml%5B/url%5D">http://media.www.michigandaily.com/media/storage/paper851/news/2007/04/13/State/Still.Donating-2840449.shtml](<a href="http://www.michigandaily.com/%5DDaily%5B/url">http://www.michigandaily.com/)</a>
<a href="http://media.www.michigandaily.com/media/storage/paper851/news/2007/04/12/CampusLife/A.Magnet.For.Grads-2837495.shtml%5B/url%5D">http://media.www.michigandaily.com/media/storage/paper851/news/2007/04/12/CampusLife/A.Magnet.For.Grads-2837495.shtml</a></p>
<p>In A2 itself the Pfizer R&D complex is closing. Anyone know what will be in its place?</p>
<p>The University has been trying to hire Pfizer scientists.</p>
<p>There's also an effort to diversify Ann Arbor as a major tech center:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.annarborspark.org/%5B/url%5D">http://www.annarborspark.org/</a></p>
<p>but I don't think it's yielded anything significant recently. A few years ago, Google announced they'd be setting up a major facility in Ann Arbor (cofounder is an alum), but news on that front has been pretty quiet. I noticed they just moved out of their temporary office space downtown (multi-colored curtains in the windows) though.</p>
<p>Hopefully if property values continue to decline it will make it easier for businesses to relocate there. Unfortunately, there are just so many better options in this country.</p>
<p>The Big 3 automakers only give 4.5 mi per year that is a very very small amount to the UMich annual budget.
UMich could make up this amount by taking 1% more OOS students ,or just consider "Go Private". Schools like Yale, Dartmouth are located in small states but have no problem to keep their top status.</p>
<p>A private state flagship? Nah. Those discussions are going nowhere in Virginia (they shouldn't)...</p>
<p>I believe eventually it will. Without the auto industry not like it once was, this state is headed down, and the school will go with it.</p>
<p>no it wont</p>
<p>dsmo, I could see a problem 50 years ago, when the University depended almost entirely on state funding, placement into the Big 3 and when expensive and ineffective transportation made it difficult for people to travel. But today, the University of Michigan no longer relies on the state of Michigan. Obviously, the state's economic woes don't help the university, and if Michigan's economy manages to revitalize, it would only help the university, but even if it doesn't, the University has taken the necessary steps to ensure continued growth and prosperity.</p>
<p>Ann Arbor and the University are generally perceived as recession-proof. The Pfizer announcement shook that perception up a bit, but don't make the mistake of thinking that U-M will become sub-par. U-M has a significant amount of support and revenue from sources other than the State. $800 million in research funding is nothing to sneeze at.</p>
<p>The Google announcement was pretty recent, not a few years ago. To clarify the timeline, as of June 2005 it was still just a rumor of Ann Arbor being a "finalist" site, and in July 2006 the announcement was made that they would, indeed, be coming here. Google has always intended to start at one space in Ann Arbor and move to something larger in Ann Arbor as it grew. As for other development, Hyundai and Toyota have planned to put tech centers in the Ann Arbor area. There is also possibility that U-M will be a site of an Energy Department project (knock wood).</p>
<p>Regardless of state funding, the school draws a large percentage of its students from within the state. As school funding is cut within the state at the K-12 level, the quality of the average student will decline. As the most-educated people in the state leave for fairer pastures (and bring their future children - good U-M candidates - with them), the quality of students will drop.</p>
<p>This brain drain the state has doesn't apply only to right now, but also far into the future. These people are college-educated, and their kids are much more likely to be successful. When all of the most successful people are gone, who is left for the next generation? Judging from my high school - a large, white, wealthy suburban Detroit school - where most kids go to one of the directional schools because they are morons, there is big trouble ahead.</p>
<p>dsmo, the University of Michigan is a global university...one of 15 or 20 universities in the US that is. Those universities do not decline because the areas around it are experiencing an Economic downturn.</p>
<p>I realize that, but a large percentage of students will always come from within the state. As the state dumbs down, so will these kids.</p>
<p>I am not sure I agree with your doom's day prediction. Michigan's applicant pool has increaded from 19,000 to 27,000 in 6 years and it should grow substantially for the years to come. The average student coming in has a higher unweighed and SAT score today than ever before. I agree that if Michigan's economy improved, it would be good for Michigan, but the University will not suffer as a result of an economic downturn.</p>
<p>I too disagree with that reasoning. Sure, some families will leave. But Michigan may also gain from those families who stay but, due to economic uncertainty, no longer are willing to pay for Cornell or Northwestern or the other private schools that the University currently loses some of its top admits to. </p>
<p>The applicant pool is also pretty deep, as Alexandre notes.</p>