In fiscal year (FY) 2024, state financial aid to students attending public institutions in Michigan increased 158.5% to reach $577 per student. Financial aid increases in Michigan in recent years have primarily benefited students attending community colleges due to the Futures for Frontliners and Michigan Reconnect programs. After a few years of growth in these programs, more than 90% of total state public financial aid was allocated to the two-year sector in FY 2023. This most recent increase in state public financial aid from 2023 to 2024 can be attributed to the creation of the Michigan Achievement Scholarship, Michigan’s new flagship scholarship program, which benefited students attending both two- and four-year public institutions. In fact, after the implementation of this scholarship, per-student state financial aid to public four-year institutions increased 1,518.6% from 2023 to 2024.
The Michigan Achievement Scholarship, which was created in 2023 and is funded through Michigan’s Postsecondary Scholarship Fund, provides crucial levels of funding for community colleges, four-year public and private colleges, and skills scholarships for trade certificates. Approximately two-thirds of recent high school graduates attending Michigan institutions full time qualify for support. To implement the Michigan Achievement Scholarship, the state deposited $250 million into the Postsecondary Scholarship Fund in 2023. In FY 2024, Michigan appropriated $300 million toward the Michigan Achievement Scholarship, $110 million of which was spent on the first cohort of scholarships for more than 28,000 students at public and private institutions. The remaining $189.5M remained in the Postsecondary Scholarship Fund to help scale up funding for the fully implemented cost of the Michigan Achievement Scholarship awards. The state expanded the Michigan Achievement Scholarship in FY 2025 to include the Community College Guarantee which provides a tuition-free pathway for recent high school graduates earning a skill certificate or associate degree at their local community college.