Aug. 24, 2021, GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is proposing expanding Futures for Frontliners and Michigan Reconnect – programs providing free in-district community college tuition to eligible residents -- as part of a proposed $2.1 billion program to boost middle-class residents, support small businesses, and help communities.
Whitmer, speaking Tuesday in the welding lab at GRCC’s Leslie Tassell M-TEC, proposes using federal stimulus money for a $215 million expansion of the two programs, a $70 million to improve the pipeline of talented workers to industry, a $100 million influx for the Going PRO credential program, and additional programs to offer work experience to Michiganders earning their GEDs and help those reentering society after incarceration transition into the workforce.
“As we emerge from the once-in-a-century pandemic, we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to use billions in federal resources to grow Michigan's middle class, support small businesses, and invest in our communities,” she said.
“With the $2.1 billion in proposals I have laid out, we can raise wages, give people paths to high-skill jobs, grow start-ups, build clean energy infrastructure, and do so much more. I’m utilizing every resource and ensuring that we continue to take bold action to help families, communities and small businesses thrive. Together, we can usher in new era of prosperity for Michigan.”
Whitmer was joined by GRCC President Bill Pink, The Right Place President and CEO Randy Thelen and Susan R. Corbin, director of the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity.
Pink said the Tassell M-TEC was an appropriate place for the announcement, considering it houses training programs providing students with in-demand skills.
“You have our welding lab, some of our machining work -- this work is vital to our community. It’s vital to West Michigan,” he said. “When this community college prepares people for the workforce, prepares people for their next institution -- if the community college is doing it, it means it lifts the community."
Whitmer said Futures for Frontliners and Michigan Reconnect are a part of her “60 by 30” goal of having 60% of Michiganders obtaining a degree or career-focused credential by 2030. About 160,000 residents statewide have applied to attend community colleges through the two programs.
“People are eager to get the skills, but the barrier has been the cost,” she said. “When we make this investment, we improve on that ability for so many people in our state.”
Michigan Reconnect is a state scholarship program providing free in-district tuition for students ages 25 and older who don’t already have a college degree. More than 900 Reconnect eligible students are enrolled at GRCC for the fall 2021 semester.
Additional information is available at grcc.edu/reconnect, by emailing reconnect@grcc.edu or by calling (616) 234-3366.
The fall 2021 semester is the last time for students accepted for the state Futures for Frontliners program to start taking classes. More than 1,000 students are enrolled for the fall semester through the program, which provides free in-district tuition to people who worked during the state’s COVID-19 shutdown in the spring of 2020.
Additional information is available at grcc.edu/futuresforfrontliners, by email at Futures4Frontliners@grcc.edu and by calling (616) 234-3344.
Students can start the application process at grcc.edu/apply, and also connect with specialists in person at a Service Saturday event planned for 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Aug. 28 at both the downtown campus and the new GRCC Lakeshore Campus.