Welcome!

It is my pleasure to welcome you to the 2009 Governor's Education Summit - Breaking through Barriers: Building a Network for College Access & Success.

This gathering, which brings together leaders from across Michigan who share a common commitment to education, comes at a critical time for our state. Our nation is mired in a deep recession that has our most important manufacturers struggling for survival. The Michigan that emerges from this period of unprecedented challenge will not be the same state we knew just a few years ago. It will be far more reliant on brain than brawn, and far more dependent on the talent and initiative of an educated workforce than on a handful of giant corporations.

Five years ago we set an important goal for our state - to double the number of college graduates in Michigan in ten year's time. And we have made significant progress since Lt. Governor Cherry's Commission on Higher Education and Economic Growth issued its groundbreaking recommendations. We have put policies in place that make it easier for students of all ages to continue their education beyond high school and have given them the skills they need to succeed in college and the workplace. But to achieve our goals we need to change not only laws and budgets, but also hearts and minds.

That's why the focus of this Summit could not be more relevant. We need to engage people in every corner of our state in a meaningful conversation about the undeniable link between higher education and economic success. What's true for every individual in Michigan is true for our state as a whole - Prosperity depends as never before on educational attainment. By taking on the work of this Summit - building a statewide network that will get more of our people into college and technical training and help then achieve success once they get there - you are doing your part to create this new Michigan. On behalf of the people of our great state I thank for your commitment to this cause.

Jennifer M. Granholm Governor

The 2009 Governor's Education Summit is a partnership between the Michigan Foundation for Education Leadership and the Michigan College Access Grant. The contents of this conference are developed under a grant from the Federal Department of Education. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.