Historically, Michigan has strongly supported public education, which helps account for the fact that the percentage of students attending public schools is among the highest in the US. But the cost of maintaining this extensive public educational system has become a major problem in recent years because of the declining school-age population. In 2000, 83.4% of Michigan residents age 25 and older were high school graduates, and 21.8% had obtained a bachelor's degree or higher.
The total enrollment for fall 1999 in Michigan's public schools stood at 1,725,617. Of these, 1,244,586 attended schools from kindergarten through grade eight, and 481,031 attended high school. Minority students made up approximately 27% of the total enrollment in public elementary and secondary schools in 001. Total enrollment was estimated at 1,705,800 in fall 2000 and is expected to drop to 1,665,000 by fall 2005. In 1999/2000, per pupil expenditures for public schools amounted to $7,483, well above the US mean of $6,356. Expenditures for public education in 2000/01 were estimated at $13,722,604.
Enrollment in nonpublic schools in fall 2001 was 179,579. The largest number of these students were enrolled in Catholic schools. Lutherans, Seventh-Day Adventists, and Reformed and Christian Reformed churches also have maintained schools for some time; in the 1970s, a number of new Christian schools, particularly those of fundamentalist Baptist groups, were established.
As of fall 2000, there were 635,836 students enrolled in college or graduate school. In the same year Michigan had 108 degree-granting institutions. In 1997, minority students comprised 17.9% of total postsecondary enrollment. The oldest state school is the University of Michigan, originally established in Detroit in 1817; its Ann Arbor campus was founded in 1835, and classes there began in 1841. Among the public universities are the University of Michigan, including the Dearborn and Flint campuses, Michigan State University, and Wayne State University. Among the state's private colleges and universities, the University of Detroit Mercy, a Jesuit school, is one of the largest. Kalamazoo College (founded in 1833), Albion College (1835), Hope College (1866) and Alma College (1886) are some of the oldest private liberal arts colleges in the state.