Cadets in the maritime program at Northwestern Michigan College perform a safety drill. Vocational programs are not uniformly popular with students at the state’s community colleges. (Photo courtesy of Northwestern Michigan College.)
Nearly everywhere he goes, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder talks about well-paying, but unfilled, welding, carpentry, machining and other skilled-trades jobs, as well as technical occupations in health care.
Snyder has said Michigan and the country “messed up” by telling young people that the only path to a well-paying career is getting a four-year degree at a university.
But helping the state fill “middle-skill” positions through post-high school training or a community college degree is proving as vexing for the state’s 28 community colleges as it has been for the governor.