The GA Bill: Helping Pay Off Student Debt

The State of Michigan needs to give those students who seek a higher education an incentive to get active on campus, and to earn an advanced degree. This is not just for the student to get into the loop and to gain access to Americas middle class, but this is also an investment in the future of Michigan. This is an extreme problem and the GA Bill committee has found an extremely workable and fiscally feasible option to help Michigans young people advance towards a brighter, more educated future.

The GA Bill is a means for Michigan residents that are current and future Michigan state public university students to be able to afford the cost of a higher education in Michigan. The GA Bill is a necessity for not only college students, but for the welfare of the entire state of Michigan.

Any Michigan resident that qualifies for regular financial aid is also qualified for the GA Bill. The prospective student must complete their under graduate degree at any state institution and then must complete a Masters program or other similar program post undergraduate degree at any state university. The student must maintain at least a 3.2 overall grade point average in both of their undergraduate degree program and in their advanced degree programs in order to maintain their status as qualified for the GA Bill. The student must take no more than eight years to complete both under graduate and graduate studies. If the student takes more than the eight allotted years to complete their two programs of study, they are no longer qualified for the benefits of the GA Bill. The student must also be active on campus while they are an undergraduate by participating in at least one registered student organization per year that they are enrolled.

After a student has qualified for the GA Bill and completed their two degree programs, they are qualified to receive the benefits of the GA Bill. These benefits include state of Michigan buying back up to one half of the students total cost of tuition from the time they were enrolled in their undergraduate program until the time they completed their graduate studies program. There are also incentives for the students that complete their degree in less than eight years. Students that complete both undergraduate and graduate programs in six years are eligible for the state to buy back half of their tuition costs. Those students that completed their degrees in six and a half to seven years are eligible for the state to buy back forty percent of their tuition costs. Those students that took seven and a half to eight years to complete both programs are eligible for the state to buy back thirty percent of their tuition costs.