LANSING – State Representative Pam Byrnes (D-LyndonTownship) today praised measures passed this week in the Higher Education Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee that will protect funding for MichiganStateUniversity, the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor, and WayneStateUniversity in a separate "Research Universities" budget.
"All of Michigan's 15 public universities make enormous contributions to the mission of moving our state forward," Byrnes said. "What makes MSU, U of M and WayneState distinctive from other schools is the emphasis they place on high-tech research and advances in the field of health care."
Byrnes pointed out that, in an article in last week's Ann Arbor News, the director of a Wisconsin-based venture capital firm said it will open an office in Ann Arbor because of the opportunities centered around Michigan's major research universities.
"Expanding in Michigan is a natural extension of our business model," said John Neis, managing director of Venture Investors LLC of Madison, Wisc. "As we looked to expand our footprint in the U.S., the obvious place to go was Ann Arbor."
Byrnes said it is exactly this kind of investment in Michigan that was the impetus for the new Research Universities budget.
"In the past five years, the University of Michigan has added about 4,000 jobs, primarily in the fields of research and health care," Byrnes said. "The jobs and venture capital generated by high-tech research will send a message to the rest of the world that Michigan is poised to lead the way in the 21st century economy."
Byrnes noted that, in the budget passed this week, funding for all of the state's 15 public universities is increased by at least 2.5 percent. The budget also allocates an increase of more than $3.5 million to all 15 universities to make up for unfunded shortfalls created by the federal Indian Tuition Waiver program. The additional money especially benefits Lake SuperiorState, GrandValleyStateUniversity, CentralMichiganUniversity and NorthernMichiganUniversity, which have the highest numbers of Native American students enrolled in Michigan.