Michigan fills free college gap, lowers eligibility to 21

Michigan’s largest free tuition program for adults to attend community college is expanding to 21- to 24-year-old residents
Officials say it closes a gap that existed in the state’s college financial aid offerings
Applications are expected to be online in mid-August

Aerik Enfinger recently turned 21 and got an unexpected gift.

He learned the state lowered the age of eligibility for its largest free tuition program for adults, Michigan Reconnect, and he just made the threshold.

“Whenever you go to buy alcohol on your 21st birthday, they should give you a pamphlet on Michigan Reconnect that says, ‘Hey if you don’t have your associate degree, (the state will) pay for it,’” said Enginger, who plans to apply to get free tuition this fall at St. Clair Community College in Port Huron.

Lawmakers included in the state’s 2027 education budget an additional $25 million to expand eligibility to include 21- to 24-year-old residents in Michigan Reconnect starting this fall. Previously, the program, which covers tuition and fees for up to four years at the state’s 30 community and tribal colleges, was for residents 25 or older.

But advocates note the expansion is for only for one year.

A young man poses for a photo — Erik Enfinger attends St. Clair Community College and is planning to apply to Michigan Reconnect to cover his tuition since the program is expanding to 21- to 24-year-olds — and he recently turned 21. (Courtesy of Erik Enfinger)

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Michigan has been on the “leading edge” nationally in providing scholarships to adults as a way of increasing overall educational attainment, along with Tennessee, New York and Massachusetts, said Jessica Thompson, executive vice president of The Institute for College Access & Success.

While she hailed Michigan Reconnect’s expansion, Thompson’s organization and others are concerned it is only for one year. That’s why higher education advocates are lobbying for passage of legislation currently under consideration that would codify into state law the expansion of Michigan Reconnect, along with the Michigan Achievement Scholarship.

“Until that passes, this becomes something that gets discussed and debated in every budget cycle,” Thompson said.

Michigan Reconnectlaunched in 2021 to helpadults start college or finish their degree. It has evolved into the state’s second-largest tuition program. It’s the largest ever for adults in state history and a signature program nationally since Michigan is among justfour states with a similar scholarship for adults. In 2024-25, Michigan Reconnect awarded $61.4 million to 46,277 adults.

This is the second time during the five years that Michigan Reconnect has been operating that it has been available to 21- to 24-year-olds. The state temporarily expanded it in 2023 for a year and a halfwith federal COVID relief funds that expired.

Lawmakers funded this year’s expansion for many reasons, including state efforts to increase residents’ postsecondary education levels and to offer opportunities to those whose education was impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, said state Sen. Sean McCann, D-Kalamazoo, who chairs the Senate’s Universities and Community Colleges Appropriations Subcommittee. Funding for the expansion was done primarily with school aid funds.

“It’s going to bolster an already strong set of efforts making higher education more accessible and affordable,” said McCann.

Michigan has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in financial aid for residents to begin or complete a postsecondary credential through new programs such as the Michigan Achievement Scholarship for recent high school grads and Michigan Reconnect, leading to a nearly 24-fold jump in state financial aid between 2019 and 2024.

The investments were created after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer set a goal for the state to have 60% of adults with a credential by 2030. As of 2024, the latest available data, 51.6% of Michigan residents had a postsecondary credential.

As of June 2025, 46,055 people were enrolled in Michigan Reconnect. Of those, more than one-third — 16,500 people — were between the ages of 21 and 24. State officials say that its goal is to have 8,000 students ages 21 to 24 enroll in the next academic year. Applications will be available online in mid-August.

Including 21- to 24-year-old residents in Michigan Reconnect fills a gap in the state’s $558.8 million in scholarship funding for residents seeking a postsecondary credential, said Brandy Johnson, president of the Michigan Community College Association. Until now, that population was left out of the state’s tuition funding. Residents younger than 21 could seek tuition assistance through the Michigan Achievement Scholarship and residents older than25 could apply for funding through Michigan Reconnect, but there was nothing for those in between.

It’s important to include 21- to 24-year-olds because some students graduate from high school and aren’t ready to go to college because they want to work for a few years or they don’t have a clear idea of what they want to study and don’t want to waste time and money figuring it out, Johnson said.

“These 21- to 24-year-olds are that much more ready and mature and we don’t want them to wait to go back to college until they are 25 because it will then be free,” Johnson said.

That is also the age group that includes high school graduates who learned from home during the pandemic, said Ryan Fewins-Bliss, executive director of the Michigan College Access Network.

“This is the age group that lots of people are complaining that they are stuck in their parents’ basements, they are not engaging in education, they are not engaging in the workforce like we’d like them,” said Fewins-Bliss. “So it’s really important that we re-engage them.”

For Enfinger, learning about the expansion to his age group means he likely will have more money to pay for gas and buy a new computer he needs. He was facing a $2,000 tuition bill this fall but wasn’t sure how he was going to pay it since he’s between jobs.

“It was such a load off of my chest,” said Enfinger, a Marysville resident. “I wish so many other people knew about this.”

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