The Michigan College Access Network (MCAN), in collaboration with The Kresge Foundation and the National Postsecondary Strategy Institute, recently launched the Michigan Postsecondary Strategy Institute (MPSI). This initiative aims to help school districts develop internal capacity to support every student toward attaining a postsecondary certificate or degree.

Over two days in early November, representatives from 23 Michigan school districts convened in East Lansing where they worked to develop actionable strategies based on three critical components for postsecondary success:

• Creating a clear plan for increasing student postsecondary outcomes tied to measurable data points.

• Connecting local data with state datasets, analyzing data by subgroups and using data to identify where strategies need to be developed.

• Empowering counselors to lead the postsecondary access work within their schools, engaging partners in the process.

“MPSI provided district teams a generative, supportive space where they could look at their data, examine what they're doing related to college and career counseling, and have deeper dive discussions about where the needs are and how they can better align the systems within their districts to best support students,” said Caroline Altman Smith, deputy director of The Kresge Foundation's Education Program.

“In today’s economy, it's more critical than ever that students get some type of training after high school. School counselors play a critical role in helping students navigate that path,” Smith added. 

The initiative’s emphasis on school counselors is timely. Michigan is in the midst of a school counseling crisis. According to MCAN, the current student to counselor ratio in our state is 729:1, the third worst ratio in the country. Nearly 90 districts in Michigan have no school counselors at all.

“We need to pay attention to the school counseling crisis and do whatever we can to help ensure our schools are staffed with well-trained counselors who have reasonable caseloads and can help our students chart their course for life after high school,” Smith said. “This is a priority and an important investment in the future.”

House Bill 5133 was recently introduced in the Michigan Legislature. If passed, it would allocate $5 million in state funding for more school counselors.

 “What makes MPSI unique is the framework provided by the National Postsecondary Strategy Network which focuses on a district postsecondary framework and strategy, a data strategy, and engagement of counselors as leaders. These three critical components, paired with MCAN's focus on systems change work within districts, provided a unique opportunity for school teams to learn and begin developing a postsecondary education strategy together,” said Jamie Jacobs, MCAN’s senior director of high school innovation.

The MPSI is the first of its kind offered in Michigan. District teams self-selected to take part in this initiative.

Cathy Longstreet is a counselor at Hastings High School. She was part of a district team that participated in the MPSI. “Although my administration is already very supportive of my counseling department’s work, it was an added benefit to hear the speakers as they shared data and research around the critical importance of school counselors in this work,” Longstreet said. “My team left feeling motivated, armed with both information and a plan of action.”

Moving forward, districts that participated will receive technical assistance from the National Postsecondary Strategy Institute to help implement their action plans.

“This powerful initiative aligns with our goal of ‘Sixty by 30’ and increases college access by strategically supporting Michigan’s school leadership,” Ryan Fewins-Bliss, executive director of MCAN, said in a press release. “We look forward to seeing how nationally-tested strategies focused on policy and practice changes can be implemented to support every Michigan student on their postsecondary education pathway.”

Want more?

Learn about House Bill 5133. 

Learn more about the National Postsecondary Education Institute.

Learn more and see the list of school districts that participated in MPSI.