Even with tuition hike, Wayne State still offers great value, president argues

At Wayne State University, the investment by Michigan families in higher education provides unparalleled value (“Michigan college tuition sees across-the-board increases this fall,” Detroit Free Press, Aug. 1.)

Since 2021, our average undergraduate tuition increase is the lowest in Michigan. Wayne State provides substantial financial aid to make college accessible for families. Last fall, for example, six out of every 10 incoming students paid no tuition. With our flat-rate tuition model, students pay the same amount for 18 credit hours as for 12, promoting faster degree completion.

Even with the $281 tuition increase per semester, Wayne State has the lowest tuition among Michigan’s top-tier research universities. In the heart of Detroit, supported by outstanding faculty, our students pursue “college-to-career” experiences that prepare them for meaningful careers.

Kimberly Andrews Espy

The writer is the president of Wayne State University

Walz is a winner

I think that Vice President Kamala Harris has hit on the right person to be her vice president for the potential Harris Administration.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is smart, witty, able to take on the GOP establishment disinformation machine and give it right back to them. He comes across as a real person — not fake like our former president or his VP in training wheels.

I only wished that I still lived in Michigan so that I could see up close what a battleground state is like — I moved before Michigan became one in the last 15 years.

Kenneth Lane

Houston

Hope, not gloom, in Harris campaign

The ballot has now been set. The contrast is clear. It's hope versus gloom. One side projects a positive future for America. The other side cheers for America's demise. One side says we can work together to form a more perfect union. The other side works to divide us and take freedoms away from women and hardworking Americans. One side expresses joy in working to earn America's trust. The other side congratulates Putin and autocracy, all while trying to stay out of jail.

The Harris-Walz ticket wants to lift America up, protect our personal freedoms, and find solutions to our problems. The Trump-Vance ticket wants to grind America down with hate and anger while trying to convince voters that things are so bad that only anti-Democratic methods can fix our problems.

I believe the country is tired of Trump's negative air and disrespectful name-calling. We are ready for the fresh air offered by the Harris-Walz ticket. It's a ticket that understands that elections are about the future, not the past. It's time for America to move forward, not backward, and to do it with joy, not hate. Hope, not gloom. As the crowd chanted at the ticket's introduction in Detroit Wednesday, "We're not going back."

Ernest L. Robinson Jr.

Southfield

Let's use different words

We need to return our political discourse to a more civil tone. Much of the division in our country is fostered by the media on both the left and the right. One simple step that the media, including the Free Press as well as the other Gannett papers, can take is to stop using terms like “battleground states” that suggest warlike action. How about using the older term, “swing state”?

Additionally, why not avoid the terms “blue state” and “red state”? Should we view our political parties as street gangs, protecting their turf? Why not use terms like Republican or Democrat “leaning” or “safe” state instead?

Robert Kollen

Brighton

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