Higher Education
The Detroit region is home to the University Research Corridor (URC) of Wayne State, University of Michigan and Michigan State University as well as more than a dozen two- and four-year colleges and universities. The URC leverages the intellectual capital of its three public research universities, to work proactively to attract the knowledge economy businesses that can find the research activity that feeds new enterprise, educates the workforce and plants the seeds for the new industries of tomorrow. In 2007 it generated $13.3 billion in new earnings as well as 69,285 jobs.
The URC partners are working closely in the Detroit Region and beyond with the auto industry, energy companies and the federal government to create new green technologies. According to a study by the Anderson Economic Group URC conducted $79.5 million in alternative energy R&D in 2007, a number expected to grow.
K-12
The Detroit region offers hundreds of school choices of all sizes and educational philosophies – from Montessori and Waldorf to charter, private, church, and public schools. It is a microcosm of the challenges facing education in the United States from award-winning, high achieving model schools to struggling urban schools facing tight budgets, crumbling infrastructure and declining enrollment.