Photo courtesy of Michigan Photography

This fall, more students than ever chose to enroll at U-M. With such milestones comes a colossal responsibility on the part of the university: we must attend as carefully to the worth of a Michigan education as we do to the number of students pursuing one.

Among the 54,181 students enrolled for fall semester is a significant number of students who are the first in their families to attend college; this year marks a 13% rise in first-generation students over the last five years. It is these students I think of in particular – of the hope and courage fueling their choice to pursue higher education – when I think of what we are doing to prepare them to flourish in what public discussion often terms the “real world” beyond campus.

Of course, taking classes, doing research, and applying for internships is a different mode of life than working full time. But the higher education/real world distinction is a blurry one, especially here, where students have more options for experiential learning than ever before. Our students are taking their knowledge into communities, businesses, and cultural institutions every day, while the questions, challenges, and perspectives they encounter find their way back into the university.

In the Marsal Family School of Education, the Learning, Equity, and Problem Solving for the Public Good (LEAPS) bachelor’s degree is creating future leaders who spend their first year living and learning in the Marygrove Learning Community. When the inaugural cohort of LEAPS students graduates in Spring 2028, they will bring hands-on experience in education, public policy, and civic leadership.

For decades, the Ross School of Business has been pairing world-class faculty and coursework with action-based learning projects that empower students to solve significant challenges for corporations, startups, and nonprofits around the world. Last academic year alone, their Multidisciplinary Action Projects and Consulting Studio programs involved 200 projects, 173 sponsoring organizations, and more than 1,000 students. Read more about the impact of these efforts here.

At Michigan Law, students in clinical programs assume responsibility for representing real clients under the supervision of experienced faculty. Questions students have approached through cases and commentary become tangible and urgent in arenas from civil rights litigation to child welfare.

In the performing arts, students are learning to connect with audiences and sustain creative work through direct experience with professional organizations. The 21st Century Artist Internship, created by the School of Music, Theatre & Dance EXCEL Lab and the University Musical Society, places students with professional music, theater, and dance ensembles for summer internships. They return to campus with new perspectives on artistic practice, entrepreneurship, and audience engagement, and help connect those artists with Michigan audiences during UMS presentations.

These examples represent only a fraction of the opportunities available to our students, and they illustrate that the work of learning is enriched by encounters with people whose lives, responsibilities, and experiences differ from their own.

As we celebrate record enrollment, I am mindful of the aspirations that have brought so many students to Michigan. They have placed their trust, and in many ways, their future prospects, in the hands of our faculty and staff.

Our responsibility is to ensure that our students’ education is equal or beyond their aspirations. We have strong evidence of success in meeting that high bar, and programs like those above help explain why. By maintaining a university that is open to the world, and continually engaged with it, we make a Michigan education worthy of the trust our students place in us. Thank you for the part you play in this crucial mission.

If you have a success story, idea or question to share, I am always eager to hear your feedback at [email protected].

Regards,

Laurie