Got Admitted to University of Michigan - Need help with understanding the chances of financial aid

Hello,
My son got accepted at the U Mich - Ann Arbor undergrad program. I have a question about their merit aid award. Can folks please share what they have got in past so we can plan on which college to go with. Based on online information their cost of attendance including tuition, fees and boarding is around 67K. Any statistics to share on what their average awards have been? Appreciate everyone inputs.
Thank you,
WM

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Paging @Knowsstuff and @sushiritto

My understanding though is that non need based merit aid is very hard to come by at Michigan.

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Adding…what someone else got in the past is not going to determine what your kid gets this admissions round. Every admitted class is different…and the merit awards can fluctuate based on the strength of the admitted class.

Michigan also used to give many more and generous merit awards than it does now…transitioning to mostly need based aid…at least that is my observation.

Is this an ED acceptance? Or what? Just wait until you get the financial aid awards to determine where your finances fit in terms of college choice. That’s really the only way to know.

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@momofboiler1 is correct. OOS merit aid is extremely rare. For sake of planning, I wouldn’t count on any merit aid awards. Michigan is stingy.

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I just saw this one post now (today) about OOS merit from a current Michigan parent in the Michigan Class of 2026 thread.

@Rebma07 posted today:

I saw that too…that student had a perfect GPA, and had won some national awards.

We don’t know what the OP’s student stats are.

According to Michigan’s Common Data Set, 14% of freshmen got merit aid (excluding athletic scholarships) for an average of $3,702. Are your student’s stats in the top 25% of Michigan’s numbers? If not, then I’d assume $0. If so, and depending on how much higher, then you might get a small amount. The $20k/year number from the other applicant is exceptional.

We live in Michigan. Neither of my kids went to UM, but they had friends who did. Some of their friends were top candidates, but merit aid was hard to come by. That was a while back, and it’s true that UM is channeling most of its aid toward meeting need for in state students. It’s always possible that your child could get some merit, but I wouldn’t count on it.

merit aid hard to come by. i will say though, not impossible! there are a ton of potential scholarship applications every year. My D19 received a small supplemental award her second year, but did not get it again her third year. Crossing fingers for her last year, especially if two in at same time. she did receive 10k merit x 4 years. Michigan even OOS no aid is a value (hard to believe!!). when you start comparing it to Ivy and other private institutions.

Sorry my notification was turned off.

Very hard for merit so don’t plan on it.

But they do have OOS financial aid. Many get $20-35, 000…When family making more then $66,500

My son was a very good student but not top of his class (top 20 in a 800 kid class). He got into UVA, UM and a few other schools that were considered. We did all we could (passed along competing aid, etc). UM was the worst at trying to make it work. He ended up going to UVA where they were generous with need based aid and found a $5K/yr merit scholarship as well for him. UM was high on his list, but they just didn’t really offer him that much as an out-of-state student.

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My kid graduated last May from UM (OOS). I would agree that merit $ is very hard to come by. We were not eligible for FA, but my kid did end up getting a substantial scholarship from his department (only after freshman year). For reference, my kid had high stats, attended highly ranked US HS, and maintained a 3.6+ gpa in UM Ross program.

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Sorry if this question has been asked and answered but if you are out of state and need financial aid based on FAFSA does Michigan meet it?

Michigan only meets full need for instate only.

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@rsm

Michigan requires the CSS Profile. Their need based aid is based on the financial info on the Profile…not the fafsa.

And they don’t meet full need for all accepted OOS students.

Thanks. Yes we submitted CSS.

And I knew Michigan met need for in-state, but I was wondering what people’s out-of-state experience was. Hoping we get decent aid (that’s not loans).

So look at my answers above. Depending on your situation OOS families I know got around $20-35,000/year in financial aid. Every situation is different.

@RSM

Did you run the net price calculator for University of Michigan? That will give you a very good estimate of your net costs.

Are you divorced? Do you own your own business or are you self employed? Do you own real estate other than your primary residence? If the answer is NO to all of these, the net price calculator should at least give you a good estimate of your net costs at Michigan.

Adding…you have triplets…(these are big money years for you!). Starting in 2023-2024, the FAFSA will no divide the EFC when there are multiple students in college any longer. No one knows what the Profile schools will do. But something for you to keep in mind.

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I will run it! Thank you!

My husband will not take out loans. Especially since she ends up with a full ride to UA for 5 years, gets extra money, and if she gets into some of their prestigious programs. (She’s also planning law school after.) He’s not wrong! Just want to see if we have a chance of getting decent aid at Michigan.

And very disappointing about the FAFSA. I guess it will be up to the individual school if it will match aid from the year before.

This isn’t news…it’s been in the pipeline for over a year…advance notice.

The vast majority of colleges have never “matched aid” from one year to the next. Every year, for need based aid, students apply again. But this change to not dividing the EFC amongst siblings all n college together has the potential to affect aid like a Pell Grant. No one knows what the Profile schools will do in terms of institutional need based aid, but in the past, they have done what the FAFSA changes have been. It’s a stay tuned situation.

You sound like you have some good options that are affordable. Michigan is costly…but wait and see. And do run that net price calculator.