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MINGSTAP — Michigan National Guard State Tuition Assistance

Up to $14,400 towards an associate’s or bachelor’s degree and up to $6,000 towards a master’s, a certificate or a training programme — and since 2023 a spouse or dependent child can use the member’s benefit.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

Up to $14,400 towards an associate’s or bachelor’s degree and up to $6,000 towards a master’s, a certificate or a training programme — and since 2023 a spouse or dependent child can use the member’s benefit.

What it's worth: Up to $14,400 for an associate’s or bachelor’s, up to $6,000 for a master’s, certificate or training

  • The department publishes the amounts by programme type: training programmes up to $6,000, certificate programmes up to $6,000, a master’s degree up to $6,000, an associate’s degree up to $14,400, and a baccalaureate degree up to $14,400.
  • The department’s page presents those as programme amounts. It does not say on that page whether each is an annual figure or a lifetime one, so we do not assert either.
  • The school must be in Michigan — public or private college, university, vocational, technical or trade school. A member studying out of state is outside the programme.

Who is entitled to it

  • You are the Guard member, or the spouse or dependent child using their benefit.
  • Your home is in Michigan.

Not sure whether that describes you?

Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.

How to claim it

Deadline: Per academic term — the department opens an application window each term
  1. 1Confirm you are active in the National Guard — the department’s test is traditional service of one weekend a month and two weeks a year, and it excludes a member absent without leave or facing charges under the military justice code.
  2. 2Pick a school located in Michigan. Public or private is fine, and vocational, technical and trade schools are named alongside colleges and universities.
  3. 3Apply in the window for the term you are starting; the department posts separate application links for each academic year and for summer terms.
  4. 4If you are the spouse or child using the member’s benefit, note the age limit that comes with it: the child must have graduated high school or obtained an equivalent, or be 18, and must use the assistance before turning 26.
  5. 5Use the online office hours if the application or the invoicing stalls — the department runs them on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays for exactly this.
  6. 6Ask about the flight school list separately if you are training to fly; the department maintains a specific list of approved flight schools.
File with
Michigan Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, State Operations, Office of Financial Services
Documents you will need
proof of guard membership · enrollment verification
Each term
Applications are opened by term, so each term is applied for and invoiced separately.
CorrectionA dependent child’s use of the benefit expires at 26, not at the member’s retirement. A family that plans to hold the benefit for a younger child needs to count backwards from that birthday.
Worth knowingA master’s degree is funded at the same ceiling as a certificate or a training programme — up to $6,000 — while an associate’s degree draws the full $14,400. The cheaper credential is not the one the programme funds least.
Known gapThe department’s page does not state whether the published amounts are annual or lifetime, nor whether a lifetime cap sits above them. Ask the Office of Financial Services on 517-481-7640 or at MINGSTAP@michigan.gov before planning a full degree around a single figure.

Sources

Why only one source type: The department administers the programme and states the amounts, the eligibility test, the family extension and the application route on its own page. Michigan’s statute site returned a web application firewall block to every request, so we cite the department and name Public Act 259 of 2014 and Public Act 33 of 2023 as the department names them rather than quoting the Acts.

This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.