Eastern Michigan offers ‘big stress reliever’ for students: Help paying off loans

Eastern Michigan University has a program that helps graduates pay back their public and private student loans
College costs remain a concern for students and parents
So far, 160 students are enrolled in the EMU program

As college costs continue to worry current and future students, what if students had some peace of mind they would be able to pay back their loans?

Enter EMU Advantage.

At Eastern Michigan University, students pursuing education degrees can get help paying their loans back if they make under $50,000 a year. The university recently expanded the program to include 16 other majors.

“My goal with this program is to encourage students to pursue a passion without necessarily being as concerned about (the) paycheck,” said vice president of enrollment management Katie Condon.

The program works to help graduates pay back their federal and private student loans. It also helps students’ parents pay back federal parent loans. As graduates earn more money, their loan assistance lessens.

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The university launched the program in 2024 after delays in the federal student aid system prompted uncertainty for students and universities. Now, there are 160 students enrolled.

Generally, college graduates make more money than those without a degree. Statewide, the median annual wage for a high school graduate five years after graduating is $33,100 compared to $66,600 after completing a bachelor’s degree.

Still costs continue to deter some from pursuing a college education. Loans are “not as detrimental as sometimes what people make them out to be,” Condon said. But it’s still a burden on students.”

William Kilgore is majoring in secondary education English. The first-year student from Novi hasn’t had to take loans out yet but plans to later in his college experience.

Eastern Michigan University Vice President of Enrollment Katie Condon said student loans can be a burden on college students and graduates. A new program aims to help students pay back their loans once they’ve completed their degree. (Isabel Lohman/Bridge Michigan)

The loan assistance program is a “big stress reliever,” Kilgore said, especially considering how much teachers make when they first start working.

The teacher starting salary in Michigan is $41,645, according to a report from Education Policy Innovation Collaborative at Michigan State University.

Kilgore’s parents are both teachers, and Kilgore credits them working hard for why he hasn’t had to take out loans yet. Still, he imagines that the program would have been the deciding factor on where to attend if he didn’t have his family’s support.

“Even I’m stressing about college fees so I can’t imagine what it might be for someone who isn’t as well off.”

Loan repayment assistance is common for law schools across the country. The University of Michigan has a program. EMU is one of just three schools in the state working with Ardeo Education Solutions to offer undergraduate loan repayment programs. The others are Rochester Christian University in Rochester Hills and Great Lakes Christian College in Waverly.

Matt Osborne, senior vice president for client service at Ardeo Education Solutions, told Bridge the goal is to ensure students have three freedoms: “The freedom to pick the best fit college. The freedom to study what you’re actually gifted in. And the final freedom is having graduated, is to actually pursue the career you’re interested in at that time.”

Let’s say a student graduates EMU and is earning $40,000 a year. The student would make loan payments and show proof of payments. Ardeo would reimburse a portion of the costs. Once the student is making $50,000 a year for 12 months, they no longer get funds from Ardeo.

EMU has not yet had students graduate with the program. But on average, Ardeo pays $200 a month per participant and there are more than 40,000 current college students or graduates enrolled in loan repayment assistance programs through Ardeo, said Osborne.

Osborne, the former vice president for enrollment at Spring Arbor University, said the program helps students and parents with peace of mind. Ardeo can’t change how much social workers, teachers and others in nonprofit organizations make, he said, but can help with a “safety net against the unknown.”

Ardeo’s website touts its ability to boost student enrollment, a challenge EMU and other regional public universities face with declining birth rates and skepticism about college.
Condon declined to say how much the program is costing the university but said the university is committed to the project and the university uses general fund dollars to pay for the program.

Osborne said that even if EMU were to end its work with Ardeo, graduates who have already enrolled in the loan payback program and meet other requirements would still receive their loan payments.