Author Topic: Free tuition if you make under $65K at University of Michigan  (Read 4461 times)

dandarc

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http://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2017/06/university_of_michigan_to_offe_4.html

If you're in Michigan, have a smart kid or two, and are hesitating to pull the plug - here's one more reason to do it before the kids are grown.

jfer_rose

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Re: Free tuition if you make under $65K at University of Michigan
« Reply #1 on: June 15, 2017, 04:14:29 PM »
I'm a University of Michigan graduate who may have qualified for such a program had it existed when I attended. This makes me so happy.

Dee18

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Re: Free tuition if you make under $65K at University of Michigan
« Reply #2 on: June 15, 2017, 07:28:52 PM »
The fine print includes an assets test; the assets must be less than $ 50,000:

"What is the Go Blue Guarantee and what does it cover?

U-M will pay full undergraduate tuition and mandatory university fees for up to four years for students eligible for in-state tuition that have family incomes of $65,000 or less and assets below $50,000 and who are pursuing their first bachelor’s degree. Income and assets are verified each academic year during the aid application process and the guarantee requires students to apply for financial aid. The guarantee covers tuition for Fall/Winter terms."

maizefolk

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Re: Free tuition if you make under $65K at University of Michigan
« Reply #3 on: June 15, 2017, 07:35:58 PM »
As written that sounds like it would mean either family assets or student assets.

oldtoyota

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Re: Free tuition if you make under $65K at University of Michigan
« Reply #4 on: June 15, 2017, 08:13:36 PM »
As written that sounds like it would mean either family assets or student assets.

Yes. I wonder what happens to the student who is on his or her own for whatever reason.

Anyway, it's cool UM does that. =-)

dandarc

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Re: Free tuition if you make under $65K at University of Michigan
« Reply #5 on: June 16, 2017, 08:10:31 AM »
The fine print includes an assets test; the assets must be less than $ 50,000:

"What is the Go Blue Guarantee and what does it cover?

U-M will pay full undergraduate tuition and mandatory university fees for up to four years for students eligible for in-state tuition that have family incomes of $65,000 or less and assets below $50,000 and who are pursuing their first bachelor’s degree. Income and assets are verified each academic year during the aid application process and the guarantee requires students to apply for financial aid. The guarantee covers tuition for Fall/Winter terms."
Ah.  So this is basically great marketing by the university and not as much substance as it initially sounds like.  Mention the income part to the press.  Leave the assets part out of it.

dandarc

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Re: Free tuition if you make under $65K at University of Michigan
« Reply #6 on: June 16, 2017, 08:35:44 AM »
Might have been a bit harsh on the university - the Freep article mentions the $50K limit, so probably just MLive neglected to mention this part.

Wonder if BMW / Tesla / Porsche / other expensive things will see a sales spike - I don't think cars count as assets as far as the FAFSA is concerned.

MandyM

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Re: Free tuition if you make under $65K at University of Michigan
« Reply #7 on: June 16, 2017, 08:39:52 AM »
I'm a University of Michigan graduate who may have qualified for such a program had it existed when I attended. This makes me so happy.

Hello fellow UM grad!

I'm pleased to see this too, even with the asset test.

maizefolk

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Re: Free tuition if you make under $65K at University of Michigan
« Reply #8 on: June 16, 2017, 08:42:47 AM »
The fine print includes an assets test; the assets must be less than $ 50,000:

"What is the Go Blue Guarantee and what does it cover?

U-M will pay full undergraduate tuition and mandatory university fees for up to four years for students eligible for in-state tuition that have family incomes of $65,000 or less and assets below $50,000 and who are pursuing their first bachelor’s degree. Income and assets are verified each academic year during the aid application process and the guarantee requires students to apply for financial aid. The guarantee covers tuition for Fall/Winter terms."
Ah.  So this is basically great marketing by the university and not as much substance as it initially sounds like.  Mention the income part to the press.  Leave the assets part out of it.

Well given that no one has a solid answer yet about whether the asset test looks at the assets of the student or the assets of the student's parents, that about 40% of households age 40-55 (by best guess for "age at which people send their kids to college" have a net worth of <$50k, and many of the family with net worth's >$50k may also have family incomes >$65k, I think there is still a fair bit of substance there.

dandarc

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Re: Free tuition if you make under $65K at University of Michigan
« Reply #9 on: June 16, 2017, 09:02:51 AM »
Relevant to the discussion:

http://goblueguarantee.umich.edu/
http://finaid.umich.edu/go-blue-guarantee-eligibility/

#1 takeaway for me - this is gap coverage - not costing the university much at all, which is obvious if you look at the tab for "If your family income is more than $65K".  If the $65K-$95K income average student would only cost about $1500 extra per year to the university if they extended this Guarantee that high, I'd think the $65K < group would cost even less.

So the representation of the new program - "15K per year value to student" isn't an honest representation of what is happening.  The cost of this program is probably on the order of $10 million or less per year to the university.  Big time marketing though.

#2 takeaway - definition of income and assets is
Quote
What does U-M consider when looking at student and family income?

We use information from the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) and PROFILE financial aid applications and sometimes request other documents to verify family income and assets. We compute separate financial contributions for custodial and non-custodial parents. We define income as the total of student and parent wages, earnings from a business or other self-employment, other taxable income such as unemployment compensation and all untaxed income.

What assets are used when considering eligibility for the guarantee?

We consider total net worth, which includes: home equity (capped at 2.5 percent of income for Winter 2018, and 1.5 percent thereafter), savings/checking, investments, real estate and business net worth, but not retirement accounts.

So max out your 401K and IRA!  And dump money into your house - if you get your income low enough to qualify, that's only like $1K of home equity that counts as assets once the 1.5% limit kicks in.

Mac_MacGyver

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Re: Free tuition if you make under $65K at University of Michigan
« Reply #10 on: July 01, 2017, 05:45:23 AM »
"No such thing as a free lunch" is a saying for a reason, the costs will need to be covered somewhere in someway. Future students will be on the hook.

Guava

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Re: Free tuition if you make under $65K at University of Michigan
« Reply #11 on: July 05, 2017, 06:57:24 PM »
I'm a University of Michigan graduate who may have qualified for such a program had it existed when I attended. This makes me so happy.

Hello fellow UM grad!

I'm pleased to see this too, even with the asset test.

Hello fellow UM grads! I was very happy to see this too!