Whitmer signs education budget funding universal pre-K, community college

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on July 23 signed the state’s education budget for fiscal year 2025, which her office says includes historic investments in students across the state.

The budget includes raises for educators, a continuation of the state’s free school meals program, and what Whitmer calls the “Michigan Guarantee”: free education from prekindergarten through two years of community college for young Michiganders.

“This balanced education budget — my sixth — makes record-breaking investments to support our students, invest in our schools, and empower our educators,” Whitmer said in a press release. “With access to free pre-K for all, record funding for students, free school meals, on-campus mental health resources, and tuition-free community college for every high school graduate, this budget will improve outcomes, lower costs, and strengthen our education system.”

The budget sets aside $130 million to ensure all 4-year-olds in Michigan can attend pre-K and $30 million to expand the Michigan Achievement Scholarship, which completely covers community college tuition for all new high school graduates in the state.

“This is another budget where taking a big bet on our kids and our state’s future is just really evident in the investments that are made here,” Michelle Richard, the deputy director for higher education of the Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential, told the Michigan Independent.

It’s the second annual budget to include funding for free school meals for all children, regardless of the family’s income. The state was able to fund free school meals with federal funds during the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Making sure that every child is fed at school and has the option to focus fully on their learning, not on being hungry, is incredible,” Richard said. “I know at MiLEAP, we’re really proud to see the governor continue to lead on that.”

Whitmer first announced her “PreK for all” plan during her State of the State address earlier this year. It builds on the existing state-funded Great Start Readiness Program, which has made pre-K available to 4-year-olds from low-income families since the 1980s.

By expanding pre-K to all Michigan families regardless of income, Richard says, the state is massively expanding educational opportunities for children in the state.

“What we know is that kids need the biggest jumpstart that they can get, that when you look at outcomes, even really early in life, children have different opportunities,” Richard said. “And if we want every single Michigander in the state to have a really clear path to prosperity, we need to start early.”

Guaranteeing a clear path to prosperity also requires investment in teens and young adults, Richard said.

“After our kids graduate from high school, we know that the economy demands that they continue their education after high school, and now every single high school graduate in the state of Michigan has the option to continue their education at their local community college tuition-free,” she said. “And that is just an incredible investment in students, teachers, but also in our state and our communities. And to the best of my knowledge, I don’t know any state in the country who’s making both of those strategic investments in the future at the same time.”

This, she said, is what the governor’s office calls the Michigan guarantee: “Pre-K, K-12, through 14 or community college, those things together, we think really changes the trajectory for kids and for our state.”

Free community college is not limited just to students right out of high school. The state also runs the Michigan Reconnect program, which funds free access to community college for Michiganders who have been out of high school for some time. Young adults over the age of 21 can apply for the program through Nov. 15; after that, it will only be accessible to Michiganders who are 25 or older.

“We’re excited to continue to see the governor and the Legislature champion this investment in this program,” Richard said. “So many of our Reconnect graduates are graduating in Michigan, staying in communities in Michigan, building their career here. And we know we want our economy to thrive. But that’s the secret sauce, training talent, keeping talent right here in Michigan, and making this a place where people want to build their lives and their career.”