Michigan Colleges Online is administered by the Michigan Workforce Training and Education Collaborative to support the EPiC Consortium partner colleges in their delivery of collaborative degree and certificate programs. The MCO acts as the registration platform for MWTEC programs, with online learning delivered through Canvas.
The Michigan Workforce Training and Education Collaborative is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization formed with the mission "To empower education and training providers to support employer workforce talent needs through comprehensive collaborative solutions". You can learn more about the collaborative work MWTEC is doing at MWTEC.org.
Michigan Colleges Online, previously known as the Virtual Learning Collaborative, began as an initiative of the MCCA in 1999 to expand online learning at a time when there were very few courses offered virtually. This initiative of the MCCA was both unique and trailblazing at its inception and has gone through many changes over the years. While the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in many institutions developing their own means for online learning, the MCO still served as the registration platform for the collaborative programs overseen then by the MCCA’s Center for Collaborative Programs (now its own organization in MWTEC) to support EPiC Consortium partner colleges in the registration for collaborative programs. As these programs have grown, there has been a great deal of interest in expanding the types of programs offered. To facilitate this, MWTEC will be transitioning MCO into a platform better suited for the collaborative nature of its primary functions. MCO will change, but the function of facilitating registration for the collaborative programs offered by MWTECC and partner colleges will not.
Yes, they are. Please refer to the "Is financial aid available for MCO courses?" Tuition & Financial Aid help center page for critical details.