U-M-Dearborn will be able to pursue ambitious plans to expand enrollment with the acquisition of Ford Motor Co.’s Fairlane Training and Development Center on Hubbard Drive in Dearborn.
After months of discussion, U-M-Dearborn and Ford officials signed paperwork closing the deal Sept. 5. The facility, which will house the School of Management and the School of Education, is two connected buildings with approximately 318,000 gross square feet on about 30 acres with 1,000 parking spaces.
“This historic acquisition has the potential to transform our campus in many ways,” says Chancellor Daniel Little. “The buildings were designed to provide high-quality educational spaces in a variety of formats, and will dramatically enhance the learning environments available to our students. The classrooms and other learning spaces are well suited to advanced interactive teaching methods and the facility will provide an attractive destination for students in our growing graduate and professional programs in management and education.”
U-M-Dearborn’s enrollment reached an all-time high level last fall at 8,725 students; in recent years, enrollment in graduate programs has grown significantly, and graduate students now make up approximately 25 percent of the student body.
Current planning calls for enrollment to grow by 3 percent per year for the next decade, with an eventual goal of enrolling between 10,000 and 12,000 students. As with other recent capital outlay projects at public universities in Michigan, the state has appropriated 75 percent of the total purchase price of approximately $33 million. The University will borrow the required 25 percent match with long-term bonds. Ford intends to lease back part of the facility for several years, which will help the University cover the debt burden and operating costs of the facility.
“Ford’s generosity and vision led to the establishment of this campus in the 1950s; their support for our programs has nourished us in the years since; and their sale of this facility to us reflects the corporation’s confidence in our mission for the decades ahead,” Little says.
U-M-Dearborn was established in 1959 with a gift of 200 acres of land and $6 million from Ford Motor Co.
