Alpena school officials last week received kudos from a statewide organization that recognized the district for strong steps in opening the door for students to attend college.

Michigan’s attorney general is warning student borrowers to be cautious of scammers taking advantage of the federal student loan forgiveness program.

Michigan officials and education leaders are also examining other ways to help students finish college and career training after high school. Controlling tuition costs is critical. But there are plenty of other reasons why students fail or drop out.

Three years into the pandemic, after two years of isolation, shuttered schools and virtual commencements, high school graduates from the classes of 2020, 2021 and beyond — call them Generation COVID — are shunning college in record numbers.

“The tax is not something you can spread out over 20 or 30 years like you can your loan payments. So this tax would come due this tax year, which would make a high burden for those students,” said Ryan Fewins-Bliss, MCAN executive director.

The Otsego Career Access Network wants to connect people with opportunities for an advanced education. And the new coordinator is retired Gaylord Schools superintendent Brian Pearson.

In Michigan, 1.4 million residents will benefit from the loan forgiveness program, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said. But the loan relief plan does little to tackle the complex problem of college affordability.

For Michigan's incoming class of 2015-16, the overall rate of public college students who earned a degree at four-year institutions four years later was 52.4% compared with 71.2% five years later and 77% six years, according to the latest state data.

In short, the cost of college went up during a time when state scholarships for college went down. The result: students now graduate from Michigan’s colleges and universities with an average debt of $36,000.

Ryan Fewins-Bliss joins the WZZM news team to discuss President Biden's student loan forgiveness plan.