New MiLEAP Higher Education Research Priorities Aim to Advance Michigan’s Sixty by 30 Goal

LANSING, Mich. – Michigan is identifying research that can help strengthen postsecondary education and advance the state’s goal of having 60% of working-age adults earn a postsecondary credential or skills certificate by 2030. The Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential’s (MiLEAP) Office of Higher Education (OHE) today published 10 research priorities focused on the factors that shape postsecondary access, student success and economic mobility.  

Reaching Sixty by 30 requires Michigan to keep learning what works. These priorities will help build the evidence needed to understand student experiences, assess the impact of state investments and identify opportunities to strengthen postsecondary education. 

Michigan has made significant progress toward Sixty by 30 through historic investments in financial aid and student success. More than $740 million in Michigan Achievement Scholarships has supported over 110,000 students since 2023, while the share of undergraduates receiving state-funded aid has more than doubled—from 13.4% to 28.4%. Michigan Reconnect has helped 94,000 adult learners return to education and pursue new career pathways, and 44 of Michigan’s 46 public and Tribal colleges have received Student Success Grants to improve graduation rates. The new research priorities build on this momentum by identifying where additional action can make the greatest difference for students and the institutions that serve them.  

“Michigan’s higher education system is complex, and the questions facing students and institutions are complex, too,” said Sarah Szurpicki, deputy director of MiLEAP’s Office of Higher Education. “By identifying shared research priorities, we can help bring greater focus to the work happening across Michigan and encourage research that produces actionable insights for students, institutions and policymakers.” 

The priorities span issues ranging from how financial aid reaches students and what keeps eligible Michiganders from enrolling to how academic pathways, basic needs, transfer and workforce alignment affect whether students earn a credential and benefit from their education. Together, they provide a framework for examining where progress is being made, where barriers remain and what strategies can help move the state closer to its Sixty by 30 goal. 

The priorities provide a common focus for researchers studying Michigan’s colleges, universities and students. Researchers seeking access to student-level data through the Michigan Education Research Institute (MERI) will be asked to identify which OHE research priorities their projects address, helping align research using Michigan data with the state’s postsecondary attainment goals. 

The priorities are intended to help university researchers, doctoral students, national partners and others studying higher education focus their work on research that can strengthen understanding of Michigan’s postsecondary system and inform policy and practice. 

OHE Research Priorities 

The 10 priorities span Michigan’s postsecondary education landscape, focusing on the factors that influence access, persistence, completion and the value of postsecondary credential: 

1. Financial Aid Design
   Whether Michigan’s aid programs are structured to reach the students who need them most, and what remains unaffordable after tuition is covered.
    
2. Outreach, Access and Re-engagement
   Why eligible Michiganders do not enroll and what can bring back the roughly one million adults who left college without a credential.
   
   
3. Academic Pathways and Credential Design
   How developmental education reform, guided pathways and credit for prior learning affect whether students complete their programs and whether required courses are available when students need them.
   
   
4. Pedagogy, Advising and Student Experience
   What happens in classrooms and advising offices, including how colleges are using artificial intelligence in instruction and student services.
   
   
5. Basic Needs and Student Wellbeing
   How housing, food, childcare, transportation and mental health shape whether students can turn access to tuition into a completed credential.
    
6. Institutional Coordination, Student Mobility and Credit Portability
   Whether Michigan’s transfer infrastructure is delivering for students and how the state can build greater coherence across autonomous institutions.
    
7. Career Alignment, Exposure and Navigation
   Who has access to internships, apprenticeships and work-based learning opportunities and who faces barriers to participating.
   
   
8. Workforce Alignment, Graduate Retention and Regional Economic Impact
   Whether Michigan is producing the credentials its economy needs and whether graduates remain in the state.
   
9. Institutional Responsiveness in an Evolving World
   How colleges are adapting to demographic changes, federal policy shifts and AI-driven changes in the workforce.
    
10. Measuring Progress and Defining Credential Value
    Whether Michigan is on track to reach Sixty by 30 and whether the credentials counted toward that goal are delivering meaningful economic value. 

OHE to Host Research Summit on October 2 

OHE will host a virtual research summit on October 2, 2026, at 2 p.m. to introduce the research priorities in greater detail and highlight research underway with partners across Michigan. 

The summit will feature an overview of OHE’s research priorities followed by presentations from research teams working closely with OHE on projects aligned with the state’s postsecondary attainment goals. Researchers, institutional leaders, partners and others interested in advancing Michigan’s higher education priorities are invited to attend. 

Registration is now open for the virtual OHE Research Summit. Register here to attend on October 2 at 2 p.m. Registered participants will receive a Zoom link the week before the event. 

Learn more about the 10 research priorities and access the full OHE Research Priorities document on the MiLEAP website. 

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About MiLEAP: 
Established by Governor Whitmer in 2023, MiLEAP’s mission is to improve outcomes from birth to postsecondary so anyone can ‘make it in Michigan’ with a solid education and a path to a good-paying job. To learn more about MiLEAP, go to Michigan.gov/MiLEAP.