I’m not suggesting the 4 southeast Michigan counties are overrepresented because of proximity. It’s more just that’s where the university concentrates its recruiting efforts and has its strongest networks of alums, established “feeder” high schools, ties with HS GCs, etc. I’ll buy the “better schools” argument, but note that better schools generally go hand-in-glove with affluence. I don’t buy the “it’s where the people are” argument. Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, and Washtenaw Counties together comprise well under half the state’s population (42.6%, actually) but together account for 65.4%–nearly 2/3–of the university’s in-state undergrads. But there’s a distinct skew even within that 4-county region as to where University of Michigan undergrads come from.
Oakland County (median family income $84,783) comprises 12.2% of the state’s population but provides 30.4% of the University of Michigan’s in-state undergraduates (Fall 2014 figures). Washtenaw County (median family income $82,184) comprises just 3.5% of the state’s population but provides 13.1% of the university’s in-state undergrads. Those two affluent counties combined account for 43.5% of Michigan’s in-state students, despite representing only 15.7% of the state’s population. The statewide median family income, by the way, is just $60,341, a notch or two below the U.S. median of $62,982, so Oakland and Washtenaw Counties are well above both the statewide and national norm.
Wayne and Macomb Counties are actually slightly underrepresented relative to their share of the state’s population. Wayne County (median family income $52,946) comprises 18.4% of the state’s population but provides 16.7% of in-state undergrads. Macomb County (median family income $67,423) comprises 8.5% of the state’s population but provides just 5.2% of in-state undergrads.
Other big population centers are similarly underrepresented. Kent County (Grand Rapids) (median family income $61,097) comprises 6.1% of the state’s population but provides only 5.3% of in-state undergrads. Genesee County (Flint) (median family income $54,702) comprises 4.3% of the state’s population but only 2.5% of in-state undergrads. Ingham County (Lansing) (median family income $61,680) comprises 2.8% of the state’s population but only 2.4% of in-state undergrads.
There’s no doubt that the university is gunning for the state’s top students; that the top students tend to be concentrated in the top schools; and that the top schools tend to be located in the more affluent pockets of the state. It’s no surprise, then, that the university ends up with an in-state student body that skews higher SES and heavily southeast Michigan, especially heavily Oakland and Washtenaw Counties. And this, in turn, feeds the perception elsewhere in the state that Michigan’s student body is dominated by affluent OOS students and affluent students from the Detroit metro area, and that the university doesn’t care so much about even the very top students from places like Flint, Saginaw, Bay City, or Muskegon; or even, for that matter, from Macomb County. And all those places tend to be Michigan State country.