How Aid Is Awarded

The Office of Financial Aid distributes need-based grant, scholarship, loan, and Work-Study funds equitably among all eligible undergraduate applicants who apply for financial aid by established deadline dates. Amounts are determined by a combination of demonstrated financial need, federal maximums, available funding, and other factors.

Here's how we determine your demonstrated need: Your cost of attendance at U-M for one academic year minus your Student Aid Index (SAI) and other financial resources equals your demonstrated need (eligibility) for need-based financial aid.

U-M awards financial aid funds in the following order to eligible students:

1. Federal and State Need-based Grants and Scholarships
   Federal Pell Grant, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity (SEOG), and Michigan Achievement Scholarship. SEOG funds are limited; they are awarded to applicants with the most need.
2. Tuition-based Scholarships
   Wolverine Pathways, Michigan Indian Tuition Waiver, privately funded tuition based funding, etc.
3. Institutional Grants and Scholarships
   Victors, Go Blue Grant*, University of Michigan Grant, school/college scholarships, etc.
4. Federal Work-Study
5. Health Professions Loans and Nursing Loans
   Federal regulations require these funds to be awarded to students with the greatest need.
6. Federal Direct Loans (Subsidized/Unsubsidized)

* The university has instituted the Go Blue Guarantee, which pays tuition and mandatory fees for students with family incomes of $125,000 or less and assets below $125,000. For students who qualify, financial aid may contain a variety of funding sources (Federal Pell Grant, Federal Supplemental Education Opportunity Grant, Michigan Achievement Scholarship, institutional scholarships and grants, and non-UM tuition scholarships and grants). These, together, make up the Go Blue Guarantee. Eligibility details here. Tuition is the cost of classes and mandatory fees are those the university charges to all students. See our cost of attendance page for information about other educational costs.

To ensure that students in comparable circumstances are treated equitably, U-M may limit the dollar amount of grant and scholarship assistance awarded from university sources to individual students. If you receive grants or scholarships that exceed your total cost of attendance and they include funding from a U-M source, they may be adjusted so that total funding equals the cost of attendance.

Students who need additional funds to cover expenses and those who are not eligible for need-based aid may consider supplemental loans such as the federal Direct PLUS Loan and/or private education loans. These require separate applications.

Non-Michigan residents may need additional resources to cover their costs of attendance. We encourage students to pursue private scholarships and to inquire in their home states about whether state grant funding is available to students attending out-of-state schools. Some students may also be eligible for scholarships from the U-M school or college in which they are enrolled.

Other sources often used by nonresident families are the Federal Direct PLUS Loan (available to the parents of undergraduate students) and private education loans.