Baker College

Baker College is an accredited, private not-for-profit American college in Michigan that was founded in Flint Township, Michigan in 1911. Baker College now has thirteen locations throughout the Lower Peninsula of Michigan and one in Reading, Pennsylvania.

Baker is a career college, featuring more than 150 career programs within its system, although not all programs are available through all campuses. Baker offers certificates, associate, bachelor, master and doctoral degree programs in business, healthcare, human services, education, and technology. These categories include programs such as: nursing, teaching, interior design, architecture, automotive service technology, and computer and Internet technologies. It maintains a right-to-try admissions policy, and couples that policy with an extensive financial aid office to allow for a very broad base of traditional and nontraditional students.

Baker is part of the Michigan Association of Collegiate Registrars & Admissions Officers (MACRAO) Transfer Agreement,^[2] which provides for transfer of up to 30 semester credit hours to meet many (in some cases all) the general education requirements at participating Michigan four-year colleges and universities.^[3] Graduation rates (as reported to the federal government) vary by campus location, with graduation rates for the cohort entering in 2007 ranging from 7% at the Auburn Hills campus^[4] to 23% at the Port Huron campus.^[5]

History

Baker College started as Baker Business University, which was founded in Flint, Michigan, in 1911, by Eldon E. Baker. In 1965 it merged with Muskegon College when representatives of the Jewell family, who owned and managed Muskegon College, bought Baker Business University. The university changed its name to Baker Junior College in 1974 and became a non profit corporation in 1977.^[6]

• 2008 - A closed auto dealership in Flint, Michigan is renovated and transformed into the Baker College Center for Transportation technology, opening to students in 2009.
• 2009 - Baker College's Culinary Institute of Michigan (CIM) opens to students interested in studying culinary arts, baking and pastry arts, and food and beverage management. The 3-story, 39,000-square-foot (3,600 m²) facility in downtown Muskegon, Michigan began construction in the spring of 2008 and was completed in the fall of 2009.^[7] Baker College of Flint IT students, and reigning champions of the 2008 National Student Cyber Defense competition, defend their title and take first place to become the only back-to-back winners in the history of the event.
• 2010 - Baker College of Cadillac opens its new Center for Transportation and Technology.
• 2011 - The Culinary Institute of Michigan is granted Exemplary Status accreditation through the American Culinary Federation (ACF). The Baker College system celebrates its 100th anniversary.

Campuses

Baker College has primarily grown through three methods: establishing new campuses, and purchasing and rebranding existing small schools (for example, their Auburn Hills campus was once the Pontiac School of Business). They currently maintain fourteen ground campuses as well as an online college. Each campus is its own business entity, while an overarching Baker College System coordinates campuses and services. Current campuses include:

• Allen Park, Michigan
• Auburn Hills, Michigan
• Cadillac, Michigan
• Cass City, Michigan
• Clinton Township, Michigan
• Coldwater, Michigan
• Flint, Michigan
• Fremont, Michigan
• Jackson, Michigan
• Muskegon, Michigan
• Owosso, Michigan
• Port Huron, Michigan
• Reading, Pennsylvania
• Center for Graduate Studies
• Corporate Services
• Baker College Online
• The Culinary Institute of Michigan
• The Auto/Diesel Institute of Michigan

References

External links

• Official site
• Baker College Online
• Culinary Institute of Michigan
• Auto Diesel Institute