Casey Simlar receives the Financial Executives International Academic Award from the president of Wayne State University, Dr. M. Roy Wilson.

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. 

“Since its founding, Wayne State University has welcomed all who dream of a better life and supported all who study, work and live on our campus to achieve their potential,” Wayne State University President M. Roy Wilson said in a letter to the campus community sent the day after Trump ended the program. “We join hundreds of universities, as well as government, business and community leaders across the nation, in expressing our disappointment in this decision and urging Congress to work together and quickly find a solution to this important issue,” Wilson wrote.