In "America's Safest Cities" ranking, West Michigan is No. 7. West Michigan rated predictably low when it came to earthquakes, terrorism, and hurricanes. The area was rated medium for storms, but scored well on being prepared for them. The point of the list is to emphasize that "businesses choose locations based on costs, which include the costs of insurance and the impact of closures forced by catastrophes."
Risk and Insurance Magazine
Schools and Colleges
Greater Grand Rapids offers a tremendous array of educational options from preschool for tiny tots (see Kid Stuff) to professional development programs (see Getting Ahead). Many of our school districts are award winning and justifiably proud of the high percentage of students who go on to higher education. In addition to public schools, we also offer parents the option of enrolling their children in K-12 Christian and charter schools.
More than a third of our residents go on to post-secondary education, usually at one of our regional colleges and universities. Together, these institutions offer degree-granting, technical, and continuing education to more than 65,000 students from Michigan and around the world.
- Aquinas College
- Calvin College
- Calvin Theological Seminary
- Central Michigan University
- Cornerstone University
- Davenport University
- Ferris State University
- Grace Bible College
- Grand Rapids Baptist Seminary
- Grand Rapids Community College
- Grand Valley State University
- Hope College
- ITT Technical Institute
- Kendall College of Art and Design
- Michigan State University
- Kuyper College (Formerly Reformed Bible College)
- Spring Arbor University
- University of Phoenix
- Western Michigan University