University of Michigan responds to report charging it strayed from mission

The University of Michigan has responded to new report accusing the state's flagship institution of straying from its public mission - along with other top public universities around the country - by favoring "children of the elite" over low-income and minority students.

The report, "Opportunity Adrift," released Jan. 12 by the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit group Education Trust, gave the University of Michigan some of the lowest overall marks out of 50 public flagship research institutions studied.

Instead of the traditional markers of prestige - like the academic status of the incoming freshmen class - the report focused on how well the nation's best public research institutions reflect the student populations of their states. It used data from 2004-2005 and compared it to data from 2007-2008 to measure progress.

In a University Record report,Â Senior Vice Provost for Academic AffairsÂ Lester Monts said U-M will combat the idea that it is out of reach to low-income and minority students. He also highlighted strides U-M has made in that area.

"If you are a Michigan resident and you are admitted, the U-M will meet your full demonstrated financial need," Monts is quoted in the University Record as saying.

The University Record noted:

78 percent of all U-M students receive some form of financial aid. This year, U-M awarded $118 million in institutional financial aid.
A Jack Kent Cooke Foundation partnership helps U-M engage high-achieving middle- to low-income students from Michigan’s 31 tribal and community colleges. Over the last two years, teams consisting of people from admissions, financial aid, and the schools and colleges visited each of these colleges.
The U-M Center for Educational Outreach and Academic Success also is working to engage students at earlier ages through partnerships between U-M, K-12 schools and community-based educational organizations.
The 73.4 percent graduation rate for underrepresented minority students - black, Hispanic and Native Americans - is the highest in Michigan and the fifth best among the nation's 50 flagship schools, according to "Opportunity Adrift." U-M's six-year graduation rate for all undergraduates entering in 2002 was 88 percent, according to College Results Online, the nonprofit's database that tracks graduation rates at public universities around the country.

U-M doesn't track graduation rates by Pell grant recipients. But it will be required to do so beginning in the summer of 2010 under the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008, which requires all public universities to disclose graduation rates of low-income students.

Juliana Keeping covers higher education for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at julianakeeping@annarbor.com or 734-623-2528. Follow Juliana Keeping on Twitter