The Kresge Foundation and the Detroit Regional Chamber Foundation today announced new funding to launch a comprehensive plan and campaign to increase postsecondary education attainment in southeast Michigan. A $450,000 grant from Kresge’s Education and Detroit programs will fund the development of the plan and campaign as part of the chamber’s Forward Detroit regional economic development and competitiveness strategy.

Under the chamber’s direction, the Detroit Drives Degrees Education Compact represents a collective commitment by leaders in education, business, philanthropy, government and the nonprofit community to address an ongoing barrier to economic development: the lack of residents without higher education credentials or college degrees compared to peer regions across the country. Increasing the number of students who remain enrolled and graduate from a college or university is a key focus of Detroit Drives Degrees, a program launched by the chamber in 2015 to increase college attendance and, ultimately, graduation.

According to Michigan’s Center for Educational Performance and Information, 73 percent of the region’s high school graduates enroll in college within 12 months of graduating but only 35 percent of those graduates earn a degree or credential within six years. The majority of high schools in Detroit have graduating classes with less than 10 percent of students going on to earn a four-year credential, impacting the entire region.

“The Kresge Foundation’s grant allows the chamber to both develop and implement a strategic blueprint to bolster postsecondary attainment throughout the region,” said Sandy Baruah, president and CEO of the Chamber. “Philanthropic partners like Kresge play a key role in helping us reach our goal of increasing individuals with postsecondary degrees from 43 to 60 percent by 2025.”

“We want to help Detroit fulfill its workforce needs using its own homegrown talent,” said Rip Rapson, president and CEO of The Kresge Foundation. “Detroiters are hungry for the opportunity to get to work, and this initiative will help ensure they’re equipped with the skills, education and credentials required to do just that. We know a postsecondary education is no longer a luxury, but a necessity to move into the economic mainstream, and we’re proud to partner with the chamber to help more Detroiters and people from across the region get that education.”

The Detroit Drives Degrees Leadership Council, led by Co-chairs Daniel Little, chancellor of the University of Michigan-Dearborn, and Richard Rassel, chairman of Butzel Long, represents 35 leaders from business, government and academia across the region and will serve as signatories for the compact.  

During the next three years, the chamber will work with the leadership council to designate regionwide improvement goals on key measures of success and will regularly track and publicize progress on its goals. The Detroit Drives Degrees Compact will address each stage of the talent development pipeline: college readiness, college access, college success and transition to the workforce.

The following will serve as key milestones in the development of the plan:

• Publish an inaugural “State of Education” report to assess the Detroit region’s education ecosystem.

• Develop and ratify benchmarks, which will form the basis of the Detroit Drives Degrees Compact. 
• Cultivate public awareness and continued accountability for achieving the annual benchmarks through media, events and grassroots outreach.
• Identify and implement key strategies to promote student success through the guidance of regional higher education institutions and other partner organizations.