Michigan can do more to put students on a path to high-wage careers, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer told a crowd at Kalamazoo Valley Community College in downtown Kalamazoo on Thursday. Whitmer says she’ll address access to higher education in the state’s new budget.
During a tour of Kalamazoo Valley Community College’s Marilyn J. Schlack Culinary and Allied Health Building, Whitmer said she’ll set Michigan’s first official goal for post-secondary attainment: 60 percent of Michigan students finishing college or a certificate by 2030.
Whitmer says she wants to set every graduating senior on a path to a debt-free community college degree, an affordable four-year degree or training in the skilled trades.
“We have to think about careers as rock climbing. So that there are many different ways but you get the supports along the way to find the right career for you,” she said.
Whitmer says she’ll reveal the details of her plan in her state budget proposal on March 5.
