The struggle for most people who want to go to college is finding the finances to do so. This is why Macomb Community College thought it was imperative to help students and parents alleviate some of those costs.
Carrie Jeffers, Ph.D., Vice President of Student Services at Macomb Community College, spoke with us about a program called Macomb Tuition Advantage — and how helpful it is for Michigan residents wanting to attend college in the future.
What is the program
“Macomb Tuition Advantage provides free tuition to individuals with family incomes of $70,000 or less,” says Jeffers. “Any Michigan resident who qualifies for the program must enroll at Macomb Community College full time — a minimum of 12 credit hours — to be eligible.”
This program applies to any Macomb Community College degree program and all modalities are eligible, including online courses.
“All of the programs are eligible as long as it’s a Macomb Community College program,” she explains.
When is the deadline
For most scholarships and grants, students must apply before a certain deadline, but Macomb Community College doesn’t have a specific deadline for this program.
“There is no deadline for Macomb Tuition Advantage,” says Jeffers. “Because we are a community college, we have open admissions and applications are currently open for Fall 2023 and Winter 2024.”
Macomb Tuition Advantage is offered to both new students as well as existing Macomb Community College students.
“Currently our enrollment is a little over 15,000 students and 12% are taking advantage of the Macomb Tuition Advantage program at this time,” she says.
How parents can help
“From a parent perspective, we would really like to see the support of enrolling the student full time,” she explains. “Students that are engaged in full time enrollment tend to graduate with their degree sooner.”
Although this program is renewable up to three years, Jeffers encourages students to take advantage of being able to focus on completing their degree without worrying about the financial burden of college.
“This program allows students to use their finances to support them holistically — things such as rent, food, all the basic necessities,” she says. “We eliminate that cost of college for any Michigan resident.”
Prospective Macomb Community College students can get started by visiting the college’s website and learning more about the Macomb Tuition Advantage.
For more information on living and learning in Macomb County, visit Make Macomb Your Home. Find more articles like this at Metro Parent’s A Family Guide to Macomb County.
