College tuition hikes, sizable double-digit ones at that, have become a sad fact of life at Michigan's institutions of higher learning over the last decade. That is until Eastern Michigan University President Susan Martin stepped into the leadership vacuum by stepping up for students and their families.
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Eastern Michigan University, long haunted by a lack of coherent leadership, is rebranding itself.
EMU President Susan Martin, driven by a vision for revitalizing the university's image, is championing the university’s hallmark asset: its affordability and the role it plays in boosting southeast Michigan’s distressed economy.
And the EMU Board of Regents is endorsing the university’s rebranding. Regents opted to keep tuition and fees flat for 2010-11 -- an exceptional move on Tuesday in light of continuous higher education funding cuts from Lansing.
This is a classic example of a moment in which a business - or in this case, a university - recognizes that by cutting prices, its product will get enough additional buyers to make up for it.
Emphasizing EMU's affordability -- and how the education it provides students will play a part in revitalizing Michigan -- was part of Martin's vision for the university from the day she took office.
"Our graduates stay in Michigan, particularly in this region," Martin told me in an interview when she took the job in 2008. "And if there's anything the state needs right now, it's a more educated workforce, getting jobs and staying in Michigan. Eastern is a critical player in that."
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