Marquette is a community of learning. Home to Northern Michigan University, education here is seen as something that doesn't stop when one graduates from high school. This commitment to continuing education, along with the talented people who make up the university community, are key ingredients in the vitality of Marquette. At the primary level, Marquette Area Public Schools comprise four elementary schools, two middle schools and one high school. Father Marquette Elementary School and Father Marquette Middle Schools offer private schooling. A charter school, North Star Academy, focuses on developing entrepreneurs and alternative methods of education. Special education and gifted and talented programs are readily available in the schools to assist students with special needs. Community education programs are also offered by the university and the area school district. A little further north, in the city of Houghton, is one of the nation's top engineering schools, Michigan Technological University, as well as Finlandia University, formerly known as Suomi College. Don't forget that as Michigan residents your family is eligible for instate tuition at Michigan's many excellent public universities.