Henry Ford Community College

Date: Feb 25 2009
Major: Math (This Major's Salary over time)
I graduated from Henry Ford 11 years ago, but I've been taking a few classes to prepare for entry into a Master's degree program. I cannot believe how much the college has changed since I graduated. First of all, the cleanliness and upkeep on campus is about what you would expect at an inner-city school. The parking lot is full of pot holes—many of which have existed since LAST winter/spring and were never filled. I've heard (without verification) that if you can prove damage to your car due to the pot holes, that you will be reimbursed the repair expenses. I cannot believe that the college just does not take a weekend during the summer to fill in the pot holes and to repave the parking lot! It looks so ghetto driving onto campus and seeing that parking lot! The second big general issue is with the tuition rates. There is only a few dollars' difference between the out-of-district and out-of-state/international student rates. However, there's a huge gap between the in-district and out-of-district rates. Henry Ford has a very large international student population that resides within the district (Dearborn school district), and HFCC receives a fixed amount of tuition from the government for students within this group. Therefore, HFCC attempts to make up for the "lost" tuition with its out-of-district fees since the vast majority of these students not foreign students on government aid. Lastly, the lack of trust of the instructors with the students interferes with the capacity to learn. Apparently, those students receiving all of the financial aid have acquired a reputation for excessive cheating, and most instructors have instituted elaborate test-taking policies to deter the cheating. It's almost to the point where every student is assumed to be cheating unless proved innocent.

If you're not able to receive aid to go to HFCC specifically, then you are better off to attend a different two-year college. Why put up with the high tuition, the run-down campus, and the apparent guilty-until-proven-innocent mentality of HFCC?