Washtenaw County is home to two state universities, a well-respected community college and two private colleges. Read on for more information about higher education in Washtenaw County.

1. The University of Michigan. U-M is, of course, the best-known institution of higher learning in Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County. It's a Top 10 school known both for its academics and its athletics. It's particularly well known for its medical school, but it's also gaining a reputation for turning out high tech entrepreneurs. Find out more about admissions at the university's Web site.

2. Eastern Michigan University. Lesser known but still respected as a school that turns out good teachers and educators is EMU, in Ann Arbor's neighboring city of Ypsilanti. It's also known as an educational value, with tuition being quite a bit lower than at the U-M. For more information, visit EMU's admissions Web site.

3. Cleary University. Cleary is a business college in Ann Arbor known for being accessible to "non-traditional" students. The school offers undergraduate and graduate business degrees and hosts job fairs for students and the general population several times a year. For a list of degree programs, visit Cleary's Programs Web page.

4. Concordia University. Concordia is a private liberal arts university in Ann Arbor affiliated with the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. It markets itself as a small college with small class sizes where students can get individual attention from professors. Students can major or minor in religious-themed programs such as Christian Youth Ministry or Biblical Languages or in more traditional academic areas such as Business and Sociology.

5. Washtenaw Community College. Washtenaw County's community college offers both for-credit classes and non-credit lifelong learning classes. Students can take classes on campus, via the Internet or a mix of both. The community college is well known for training students in the trades and conferring accreditation and certifications in areas from the culinary arts to building trades. The community college's academics Web page has more about the courses offered.

Washtenaw County was, for many years, also home to the Catholic Ave Maria College and its associated law school. However, as of the fall 2009 semester, the college has moved its operations to Naples, Fla. Cooley Law School, earlier this year, announced that it will move into the vacated Ave Maria space. Cooley's Ann Arbor campus will begin offering classes in September.

Other articles about the University of Michigan:

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University of Michigan, Eastern Michigan University seeing tuition increases for 2009-2010

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Other articles about Eastern Michigan University:

Eastern Michigan University professor honored by the Finance Management Association

University of Michigan, Eastern Michigan University seeing tuition increases for 2009-2010

Another article about Washtenaw Community College:

Washtenaw schools go 'green' with environmentally-friendly programs

A list of all Education 101 stories published by the Washtenaw Education News Examiner:

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