Michigan rises from bottom in college financial aid with slate of new grants

Michigan’s hottest future jobs require education beyond high school; the state offers more than a dozen grants and scholarships to help defray costs
Michigan awarded $375 million to nearly 120,000 students seeking a certificate or degree in 2023-24
State funding is available to nontraditional students, adults, young people in foster care, children of veterans and more

Considering a future as an electrician? Software engineer? Massage therapist? Registered nurse?

These careers are among Michigan’s “Hot 50” jobs through 2032, with earnings ranging between $22 an hour to upward of $88. State officials prepared the outlook last year, highlighting that nearly all require post-secondary education.

Here’s the good news: Qualifying students can get federal grants, aid from the institutions they attend and Michigan offers more than a dozen scholarships and grants to make earning a credential more affordable.

During the 2023-24 academic year, the state awarded $375.4 million in financial aid to 117,336 students, according to Michigan’s Scholarships and Grants Annual Report.

The college aid was bestowed on traditional college students, adults without a degree, essential workers during the pandemic, children of veterans, young people in foster care, future teachers, children and spouses of police and fire officials killed in the line of duty and more.

What’s available

The largest program is the Michigan Achievement Scholarship, created in 2022 with bipartisan support for recent high school graduates from low-income and middle-income families. At the time, it was hailed as a “game-changer” and it’s now considered a flagship program.

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Seeded initially with $250 million, state investment has grown to nearly $1.2 billion over three budget cycles, and served tens of thousands of students.

In 2024-25, the Michigan Achievement Scholarship awarded nearly $266.8 million to 62,247 students, according to the state’s scholarship data dashboard.

The scholarship first became available to the 2023-24 incoming class, providing up to $5,500 per year for up to five years to eligible students to attend a public or private university in the state. Within the scholarship is the Community College Guarantee, which offers free tuition at the state’s 31 community and tribal colleges.

One of the largest programs for adults is Michigan Reconnect, a scholarship for residents 25 years or older who do not have a degree. Announced in February 2021 by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, the scholarship is now the largest in the state’s history for adults who have some college but no degree or for first-time college students. Eligibility was expanded in September 2023 to include residents 21 to 24 years old, but the expansion expired in December 2024. Since the program began, there were 82,417 people enrolled through 2023-24; including 13,167 who earned a degree as of November, according to the state’s Reconnect dashboard.

Whitmer also used federal funds to create Futures for Frontliners, a college scholarship now winding down for those who worked on the front lines during the pandemic.

The three scholarships were created during the past six years under the administration of Whitmer, who joined dozens of other states and established a goal for 60% of state residents to have a post-secondary credential by 2030.

Prior to the creation of the new scholarships, Michigan was second-lowest among the states in financial aid for students attending public institutions. The state had “a very small aid program that comprises only 0.3 percent of its total education appropriations,” according to the 2019 report on higher education finances by the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO). State financial aid programs decreased by 96.8% between 2001-2019 following state attempts to rebalance its budgets after the Great Recession, and the Michigan Legislature in 2010 eliminated several financial aid programs, an estimated $150.4 million, according to the SHEEO report.

Michigan earned a spotlight in the 2024 SHEEO report for increasing financial aid to students with the Futures for Frontliners, Michigan Reconnect and Michigan Achievement Scholarship programs, leading to a nearly 24-fold jump in financial aid between 2019 and 2024, going from an average of $24 per student to $577. Though Michigan is still below the national average, it is no longer at the bottom, rising from 49th place to 34th. (The 2019 figures do not include the District of Columbia.)

Michigan has increased its national ranking since the state’s aid for students increased by millions of dollars, “when other states are cutting,” said Ryan Fewins-Bliss, executive director of the Michigan College Access Network.

“State officials heard from residents and students that we need more investment,” said Fewins-Bliss. “We’ve seen enrollment go up, FAFSA completion go up and there’s no doubt it’s because of these new pathways that have opened up.”

State-funded student aid programs include:

• Children of Veterans Tuition Grant

• Dual Enrollment (DE) for Non-Public Schools

• Fostering Futures Scholarship

• Futures for Frontliners (enrollment closed)

• Michigan Achievement Scholarship

• Michigan Achievement Skills Scholarship

• Michigan Competitive Scholarship

• Michigan Future Educator Fellowship

• Michigan Future Educator Stipend

* Michigan Indian Tuition Waiver

• Michigan Tuition Grant

• MI GEAR UP

• Police Officer’s and Fire Fighter’s Survivor Tuition Grant

• Tuition Incentive Program

Students must fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to get consideration for nearly all of the grants and scholarship awards.