Michigan Reconnect program expands access to Grand Rapids Community College
The Michigan Reconnect program has lowered its age requirement from 25 to 21, allowing more students the chance to earn a degree at no cost.
More adults in the West Michigan area will have the ability to attend Grand Rapids Community College without paying tuition thanks to the Michigan Reconnect program’s expansion.
Michigan has recently expanded the criteria for who is eligible for the Michigan Reconnect program to include residents who are 21 years and older who have not already attained a college degree. The previous age floor was 25. This expansion allows for more Michigan adults to utilize the Michigan Reconnect program and begin their path to a college degree at Grand Rapids Community College, or to return to the college they had previously attended to finish their degree.
The program expansion is particularly important to Grand Rapids Community College because adult learners are a large population of the school’s student body. Michigan Reconnect allows for a streamlined way to earn a degree for potential students who may have delayed furthering their education because of family responsibilities, work, cost, or any number of other circumstances.
Students who are able to take advantage of the Michigan Reconnect program and are attending community college are able to enroll for college without the burden of tuition. Students who are attending a community college outside of their district can receive a large amount of financial assistance toward their tuition.
Michigan recently released data that suggests that Michigan Reconnect’s value goes beyond simply the cost of tuition. The Michigan Center for Data and Analytics suggests that the average wage of graduates who engaged in the Reconnect program increased by over $13,000 in the year after they graduated. By the second year after earning their degree, the average wage increased by another $3,000, which equated to a 48% total increase over their pre-Reconnect income.
The research also suggested that graduates who benefited from the Reconnect program earned on average $16,500 more in the year after their graduation than workers in similar fields who had only a high school diploma.
In an article posted on Grand Rapids Community College’s website, Scott Powell, who serves as chief data officer for the State of Michigan as well as the director of MCDA, noted that, “One year after graduation, our research shows that the median wage among Reconnectors increased $13,400 compared with pre-Reconnect wages. By year two, the group’s median wage increased to $16,300 higher than pre-Reconnect wages, representing an overall increase of 48 percent.”
These findings reinforce the potential long term value of finishing a degree for students of the community college. Students who utilize the Michigan Reconnect program at GRCC are able to prepare to enter in-demand industries, build an affordable pathway toward further education, and gain skills that can help them advance in the field in which they are currently employed.
Michigan Reconnect was started five years ago with the goal of helping adults who had not earned a college degree either return to college life, or enroll in college with little to no financial investment. According to the state of Michigan, over a quarter of a million Michiganders have applied for the Reconnect program in that time, with almost 20,000 having earned degrees or credentials.
The age group that is now eligible for the program has already expressed a strong desire to be able to have access to it. In the past, Michigan had expanded the program to include adults between the ages of 21 and 24, and in that time nearly 35,000 adults in that age group applied for the program, with over 18,000 enrolling in a Michigan community or Tribal college.
This current expansion of the Reconnect program was due to a $25 million ongoing investment as part of the state’s Fiscal Year 2027 education budget.
Students in the Reconnect program can also take advantage of support as they earn their degree. Michigan Reconnect Navigators are a free, one on one assistance program that helps with selecting a program of study, developing career goals, financial aid, and other struggles that may occur along the way.
At Grand Rapids Community College, the expansion of the program allows the school to expand its reach to adults who might otherwise not have been able to attend higher education programs, or those who had begun, but not finished, their journey previously.
More information about Grand Rapids Community College can be found at the school’s website.