In 2004, when the Cherry Commission released their recommendations for higher education, the first recommendation for the state of Michigan was to make education universal. Though this may seem like an impossible task, one organization will strive to bring us all closer.

The Michigan College Access Network, though still in its implementation stage, will provide the resources needed by students, administrators and parents to increase college participation and completion rates, particularly among low-income or first-generation college students.

“We’ve found that most kids want to go to college,” said Brandy Johnson-Faith, state college access coordinator for MCAN. “So it isn’t as much an aspirational problem, they just don’t know how to get there.”

Brian Barber, director of White Lake Area Community Education, strongly believes that wealth follows talent, and that people today need skills that will continue to help you learn day after day.

“I just don’t know how we will recover economically, especially in the state of Michigan. I don’t think that a lot of people understand what it truly means to value education,” Barber said.

MCAN will offer resources such as local and national education programs, and an MCAN portal containing nearly every resource needed to gain entrance to college.

“It’s a one-stop-shop for students,” Johnson-Faith said. “The portal is very dynamic, so you can apply for college within the portal….You can submit your FAFSA, apply for grants and scholarships, and compare colleges side-by-side.”

The MCAN portal is Michigan-centric, Johnson-Faith said, meaning that only Michigan colleges will be profiled. Users can pull up a college’s profile and immediately see important information, such as tuition rates, that colleges tend to bury on their website. The portal will also feature a financial aid section that will help students find scholarships and funding that are often left on the table.

Barber, who is on the planning committee, looks forward to where this organization will take higher education.
“I’m extremely geeked. I truly believe we’re going in the right direction. The passion is just as high as (ever), and the bottom line is that I’ll do whatever it takes to do what I can to establish this statewide,” Barber said.

MCAN will serve community-based programs. Other organizations, such as statewide education associations, or colleges and universities, can join as partner institutions to increase access to professional development opportunities.
“I think there’s power in numbers. When we came into the planning process of MCAN, we realized there are some rich programs out there for students, but they work in complete isolation,” Johnson-Faith said.

Right now, interested organizations can go to the MCAN website and apply for grants. These grants, made possible by funding from the Kresge Foundation, help build and sustain organizations and programs that put college in reach for Michigan students. You can use the grants for planning, startup and expansion, and community foundation.

“While these grants aren’t huge, with the Obama initiative to increase the number of college graduates, I think the community education department should jump on board and diversify,” Barber said.

The overall goal of MCAN is to serve as the coordinating arm to provide documents and resources that would otherwise be lost.

For example, in the community of Dearborn, where a majority of the residents speak Arabic, an administrator wanted to know if MCAN could translate material into Arabic. So with a network approach, MCAN was able to connect with the national KnowHow2Go program and work with a translator to meet the needs of the Dearborn community. A school counselor most-likely wouldn’t have access to such national resources without MCAN.

MCAN is currently looking to position itself into a statewide nonprofit, and hopes that this will happen in the next three to four months. It’s likely that the winners of the grants will become the base membership, Johnson-Faith said.
In the meantime, those working with MCAN stand strong that this organization will be a success.