(If you don’t qualify for the Futures for Frontliners grant, you might be eligible for the Michigan Reconnect Grant.)
Free tuition for essential workers
Futures for Frontliners is a state scholarship program for Michiganders who worked frontline positions in critical sectors during COVID-19.
This grant allows qualifying frontline employees to pursue an associate degree or certificate at their local community college without having to pay tuition. If you’ve been considering attending college, now is the time, and GRCC is the place to be.
What does the future hold for frontliners?
Futures for Frontliners will ensure that the following items are included in your semester bill from the community college:
Futures for Frontliners is a last-ditch fundraising effort. That means any Pell Grant funds and tuition-restricted scholarships or awards you receive (with the exception of the Tuition Incentive Program (TIP)) go toward your tuition and fees bill first, with Futures for Frontliners covering any remaining in-district tuition, mandatory fees, or contact hours not covered. Futures for Frontliners will cover the full cost of in-district tuition, obligatory fees, and contact hours if you do not qualify for a Pell Grant other tuition-restricted scholarships or prizes.
You will be liable for the following goods even if you are a Futures for Frontliners participant.
- If the community college you plan to attend considers you to be ‘out-of-district,’ you will be charged an out-of-district tuition fee.
- You will be responsible for covering the difference between the in-district and out-of-district tuition rates of the community college you plan to attend if you live outside of their district and do not have other scholarships or awards to cover the difference if you live outside of their district and do not have other scholarships or awards to cover the difference if you live outside of their district and do not have other scholarships or awards to cover the difference if you live outside of their district and do not have other scholarships or awards to cover the difference
- The greatest strategy to secure free tuition is to attend a community college that is designated ‘in-district.’
- Fees are not imposed on all students (i.e., parking fees, fitness center, athletic fees, non-mandatory fees, etc.)
If you’re applying to a community college, ask them to estimate these fees that aren’t covered by Futures for Frontliners so you don’t get caught off guard when you get your bill. See also Are there any other costs associated with returning to school?
If you’re not sure which community college you’re in-district for, check out our List of Colleges and contact the one closest to you. On the same page, you’ll find the email and phone numbers for each college.
What are your strategies for utilising frontliner Futures?
Keeping your eligibility Take at least 12 credit hours every calendar year (a minimum of 6 credits per semester) and finish a degree or certificate within four years; Maintain a 2.0 grade point average in Futures-related courses; and Fill out an FAFSA application at the start of each school year.
How long will frontliners have a future?
The Frontliner must also complete the following qualifying standards in addition to completing the application:
- For each school year, fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The fall semester begins the academic year and ends with the summer semester. Prior to the start of each academic year in which you want to enroll, you must complete a renewal FAFSA.
- (With the exception of Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)), meet federal financial assistance eligibility requirements.
- Maintain continuous Michigan residency for at least 12 months, beginning on July 1 of the preceding calendar year.
- The residence is based on the student’s residency if parent data is not required on the FAFSA (an independent student per federal laws).
- The residency is based on the parent’s residency if parent data is provided on the FAFSA (a dependent student per federal laws).
- By December 31, 2020, you must have achieved a high school diploma or a high school equivalency certificate.
- Have worked in a necessary industry, as defined by the state of Michigan.
- From April 1, 2020, to June 30, 2020, you must have worked at least 20 hours per week (half-time) for 11 of the 13 weeks.
- Have worked in a job that needed some time away from home.
To continue earning the F4F Scholarship after the first semester of attendance, the student must complete the following renewal eligibility requirements.
- For each school year, fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The fall semester begins the academic year and ends with the summer semester. Prior to the start of each academic year in which you want to enroll, you must complete a renewal FAFSA.
- Maintain ongoing enrollment as a half-time student in a financial aid qualifying program (minimum of six credits that count toward the program of study). Unless a leave of absence is granted, continuous enrollment implies enrolling in at least two semesters throughout each 12-month period, which begins at the start of the student’s first semester as an F4F scholarship participant.
- While an F4F participant, maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 2.0 in the courses taken toward the program of study. Grades achieved previous to the student’s involvement in F4F are not taken into account, nor are courses taken that are not part of the student’s program of study.
The 12-month timeframe for students begins with their first semester as an F4F participant. Students who got an F4F grant or who satisfied all eligibility standards but did not get an F4F award due to other resources covering their in-district tuition and obligatory fees are considered participants. Students who started in Spring 2021 will be monitored for their GPA and semesters of attendance in Fall 2021, Fall2022, Fall 2023, and Fall 2024.
Does the future of frontliners cover the cost of books?
What will the Futures for Frontliners scholarship cover? Our Non-Resident students will have to make up the $76 difference per credit hour with other financial aid or personal resources. This scholarship does not cover the cost of books.
In Michigan, who are the frontline workers?
Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, many Michiganders had to put their health and lives on the line working in industries that were crucial to keeping our state functioning during our state shutdown in the spring of 2020. Those front-line workers had jobs that forced them to labor outside of their homes, putting them at danger of being exposed. Those who manned our grocery stores and restaurants, provided waste management services, manufactured Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), operated public transit, or supplied crucial police and fire services are just a few examples of frontline workers.
Is a teacher considered a frontliner?
Today, we honor all teachers all over the world. Thank you for your commitment to teaching the next generation so that we can all have a better and brighter future.
Many things have been said about the role teachers play in our society, from role models to instant guidance counselors, second guardians, mind shapers, and local influencers before vloggers took up that moniker, and many more labels have been applied simply because we cannot reduce the function of a teacher to a single word.
However, this pandemic has introduced a new function for all teachers: being a frontliner. Teachers, too, are on the front lines!
While we continue to honor our medical frontline workers who serve as our community’s largest stronghold against the spread of the COVID-19, we teachers are also expected to do our part by combating illiteracy and ignorance as one of the pandemic’s numerous effects.
We were all perplexed at the start of the community quarantine as to how we could continue to play our vital role in society when everyone was supposed to stay in their own houses. Despite the numerous challenges we currently face, we were able to devise techniques that allowed us to continue learning in our new daily environment.
However, unlike what we were used to, we had to immediately adopt new methods in order to avoid impeding young people’s education. Because our position was enlarged to include many other functions, such as courier and logistics workers, to ensure that the learning guides we developed would reach our intended learners, the changes we made took up more work time for all of us.
We instructors have been exposed heavily outside as a result of this new work, putting our health and the health and safety of our own family members at jeopardy. Furthermore, the mobility required of each instructor in order to reach out to their kids for remedial work posed a substantial risk to the students and their families.
Teachers, of course, should have been prioritized in both the national and local governments’ vaccination programs for a long time. We must safeguard our teachers, who are the frontline educators in our country.
After Venezuela opened its schools in September of this year, the Philippines is currently the last country in the world to have not resumed face-to-face classes. Limited face-to-face classes in moderate-risk areas and for degree programs that require extensive hands-on experience and laboratory training, such as medical courses, engineering, science and technology, tourism, and hospitality management, have already been approved by the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED).
Teachers should be given top priority in the immunization program before it is opened to the wider public, now that this plan is in place. Teachers are first responders, and we require basic protection in order to continue performing our sworn duty to our beloved country.
I’d want to leave everyone with a remark from St. John Baptist De La Salle, the Patron Saint of Teachers, who said, “To be entrusted with the teaching of the young is a wonderful gift and grace from God.”
May we all continue to do our part in grooming our country’s future leaders with compassion, quality, and an enabling blessing from Almighty God.
Is it possible to attend school for free in Michigan?
You’ve taken the first step toward obtaining your certificate or degree! Michigan Reconnect is a scholarship program that pays for your in-district community college tuition to be paid for free, or pays up to the in-district rate if you attend an out-of-district community college.
- Apply for Michigan Reconnect online. It takes less than five minutes to finish the application, which may be done on a mobile phone. It is recommended that you use a different browser or computer if you are having problems on your mobile device.
- Apply to a public community college in Michigan. In Michigan, all public community institutions, including tribal colleges, are eligible. This stage is accomplished if you are already enrolled in a public community college. If you aren’t, keep in mind that your tuition at an in-district community college is free, but Reconnect only pays a portion of your out-of-district community college tuition. See What expenses does Reconnect pay for?
- Fill out the FAFSA application. The federal government provides this as a form of free financial assistance.
- Enroll in a program that is eligible and begin classes. You must attend school at least half-time and remain enrolled throughout your academic career.