Mantella: Investment in higher education needed for Michigan's future

Investment in Michigan’s public colleges and universities is at a critical juncture, said President Philomena V. Mantella in an op-ed column published April 8 for Crain’s Detroit Business.

California, Seattle and New York are no longer the epicenters for tech companies. More technology-based businesses are looking at opportunities across the nation to build factories or relocate their headquarters, and higher education in Michigan must be ready, said Mantella.

“Investing in our public colleges and universities to prepare the talent of tomorrow is building out critical infrastructure, just as surely as building roads, bridges, airports, and the Internet,” wrote Mantella. “We must, in cases like my own state, make up for an under-investment in public higher education, which today keeps Michigan higher-education funding at 2003 levels.”

Read the commentary here.