Michigan is slipping on every measure of college affordability. Between 2000 and 2008, the percentage of family income needed to pay for college at a 4-year public college increased by 8.9 percent. As of 2008, Michigan tied with Alabama for 38th on the percentage of family income needed to pay for college at a 4-year public college at 33.7 percent. Illinois and Ohio ranked lower than Michigan on both of these measures (the only two Great Lakes states to do so), and Illinois recorded the largest percent increase between 2000 and 2008 of all 50 states.
As college requires a greater percentage of family income, the average loan amounts borrowed by students each year has increased in nearly every state. Michigan ranks 22nd, with $4,625 borrowed per student annually – slightly above the national average of $4,608. Michigan’s loans per student increased by nearly 50 percent from 2004 to 2007.
