$1.19M will launch new push for adult learners

FROM STAFF REPORTS

TRAVERSE CITY — Northwestern Michigan College launched a new approach to adult learning this week — a try-it-out concept that puts students’ needs first — with the goal of getting at least 2,000 more northern Michiganders in possession of a postgraduate degree or certification in the next three years.

NMC received $1.19 million in state grants to launch the NoMI Attainment Collaborative, a concept that partners with Northwest Michigan Works! to match older students with “navigators” who will personalize support that draws from more than 20 organizations.

Groups like BATA, 20Fathoms, Goodwill Northern Michigan and more will “provide a diverse set of critical resources to lower the barriers that students face around achieving educational goals,” according to Laura Stevens Matchett, director of NMC Extended Education and Training.

The program also will “blur the lines” between non-credit and traditional credit classes to let students try different programs without a large obligation.

“You can start small and follow your curiosity; dip your toes in welding, construction technology, health care, IT or more, without committing to a semesterlong class,” Matchett said in the statement.

Students also may be able to obtain credit for prior learning, her statement said.

SEE NMC PAGE 2A

From left, Director of Northwestern Michigan College Extended Education and Training Laura Stevens Matchett, Regional Director at Northwest Michigan Works! Lisa Schut and Director of NMC Admissions Lisa vonReichbauer announced the NoMi Attainment Collaborative.

Photo provided by Northwestern Michigan College

FROM PAGE 1A

NMC was one of seven community colleges to get a piece of $8.1 million in Reconnect Community Action Grants, alongside Grand Rapids Community College, Henry Ford College, Jackson College, Mott Community College, Oakland Community College and St. Clair County Community College.

Reconnect grants are one of five categories of competitive Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement and Potential — MiLEAP — grants that launched in 2024 with $45 million “to grow student success” at Michigan’s community and tribal colleges and universities.

The moves fall under the state’s Sixty-by-30 initiative to have 60 percent of working- age Michigan residents earn a postsecondary degree or credential by 2030.

First, NMC wants to boost to 55 percent from the current 49 percent of working adults with post-secondary degrees or certificates in its 10-county region. That equates to 2,344 people with increased paychecks, “thus growing the middle class, and contributing to a thriving regional economy,” according to the statement.

“This grant will empower more people to achieve industry-recognized credentials and degrees, opening doors to stable, high-wage careers,” said Lisa Schut, regional director at Northwest Michigan Works! “By providing personalized support and breaking down barriers to education and employment, we are strengthening our workforce, expanding the middle class, and fostering long-term economic growth in northern Michigan.”

Adult students in Antrim, Benzie, Emmet, Charlevoix, Kalkaska, Manistee, Missaukee, Leelanau, Grand Traverse and Wexford counties can tap into the program immediately, according to the statement.

For more information, contact NMC Extended Education & Training at ees@nmc.edu or 231-995-1700.