Student life in the news

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Why Wayne State is Forgiving Debt to Reengage Stop-Out Students

Wayne State University is attempting to unlock the door for students who have been kept out of higher education when they owe small past due balances. Wayne State University, the Detroit Chamber of Commerce and Macomb Community College worked together to receive a Lumina Talent Hub Designation and create the Warrior Way Back Program, which is a cornerstone of our current institutional efforts. The Warrior Way Back is a way for students to “learn their way” back into the higher education ecosystem. 
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University seeks to lure students back with debt reduction

Wayne State University announced a debt forgiveness plan to bring students who started but didn’t finish back to the institution to complete their degree. The Warrior Way Back initiative allows students who are two or more years removed from taking classes and who owe $1,500 or less in institutional balances to re-enroll and reduce their past-due balances by one third at the end of each successfully completed semester until the debt is eliminated. 

Commencement speaker also an Amherstburg native

Wayne State University (WSU) held its commencement ceremony at Ford Field in Detroit recently with a student commencement speaker being from Amherstburg. Alexandra “Alex” Leroux spoke at the 4 p.m. ceremony on May 8. Leroux, a graduate of General Amherst High School, said graduates received an e-mail several weeks ago where they were invited to express interest and submit a draft of their speech and, as long as they were in good academic standing, be up for selection.
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How to Market a College in a Troubled Locale

Things are looking up for Detroit, and for Wayne State University and University of Detroit Mercy. Its two largest universities have increased their once-sagging enrollments, even as the number of high-school graduates in Michigan continues to drop. The secret to the colleges’ recent enrollment success is that there is no secret. They have relied on a suite of efforts to step up their recruitment game, lower barriers to entry for students, and shift perceptions of their location to an asset. "There are no silver bullets, but there’s a lot of silver buckshot," says Dawn Medley, associate vice president for enrollment management at Wayne State since 2016.