TRAVERSE CITY — A lot goes into deciding where to go to school, and for many, location is key. For some, that could be a deciding factor on furthering education or not. But college campuses aren’t always conveniently nearby.
“We kind of recognize the needs in northern Michigan, and the needs have, of course, changed post-pandemic post-COVID as well,” says Director of Northern Michigan Operations for Ferris State University Kevin D’Alessandro.
That could deter people from pursuing higher education and skill sets.
“We all know kind of the demographic challenges of Michigan as well and kind of a population decline. Moreover, a decreasing high school graduation numbers in the high school graduating class as well,” says D’Alessandro.
But Ferris State University wants to help further education and skills throughout Michigan.
“Being able to develop our talent here locally and retain that talent as well with sort of dividends not only for Traverse City and Grand Traverse County, but also all of northern Michigan as well, to again, educate the community, educate students and give back,” says D’Alessandro.
“This is a way to, again, re-engage those people, have them start, stay, succeed, complete right here in northern Michigan,” he adds.
FSU is expanding their statewide hubs across Michigan.
“It’d be more like physical buildings all across the state of Michigan. So from Flint to Grand Rapids to Kalamazoo, my position up here in Traverse City, Detroit’s on the docket as well,” says D’Alessandro.
Those hubs will have many different paths students can choose to take, which you can learn about here.
And with hubs, that will make the drive a lot shorter for some.
“We have a lot of support from alumni throughout the region, but a lot of excitement engaging, a lot of opportunities as well for growth and collaboration with the community,” says D’Alessandro.
For those who have been through college, university, or trade work schools, you know how hard it can be to transfer credits, but FSU makes that easy.
“We have a very robust transfer pathways and guidelines as well to really ensure the transferability of credits and recognize what a student has done. We’re going to honor those who are at the back end at Ferris State University and moreover, not just credits, but also life work and what you’ve done in the field to offer career exploration,” he says.
Ferris State is working on a launch date for these hubs.
You can learn more about the program by clicking here.
