Michigan tuition sweepstakes gives 10 students chance to win $50,000 for completing FAFSA
The form unlocks both federal and state support for college-bound students, as well as those headed to career schools. The Michigan sweepstakes will give ten students the chance to win $50,000 and 40 students a chance at $10,000. The cash prize will be held in a Michigan Education Savings Program account for winning students to use to pay for a range of education expenses, including tuition, textbooks and room and board.
"Filling out the FAFSA makes you eligible for tens of thousands of dollars of in-state and federal scholarships, and with today's sweepstakes, you can earn some extra money, too," Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said during a launch event at Eastern High School in Lansing.
The Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential partnered with the Michigan College Access Network — a nonprofit that aims to increase the number of Michigan students that complete college — on the giveaway. Democratic lawmakers in 2024 approved the funds for the incentive program, encouraging students to complete the FAFSA form. The winning funds are already set aside in the current state budget approved in the last legislative session. The funding is one-time, and lawmakers have not decided whether to set aside similar funding again in the next state budget for another sweepstakes in the future.
To enter the sweepstakes, Michigan students and parents must create an account on studentaid.gov to fill out the FAFSA form and then the student must text "CASH" to 855-50K-TICKET or 855-505-8425. Students who have already completed their FAFSA form can also participate by sending the text message. Students can also mail an entry form available at tickettotuition.com and send it to: "Ticket to Tuition Entry, c/o Güd Marketing, 1223 Turner Street, Suite 101, Lansing, MI 48906."
The deadline to enter is May 16.
A random drawing will be conducted in late May. The contest is open to legal U.S. residents living in Michigan who complete the FAFSA form for the first-time to use during the 2025-26 school year.
Michigan Education: Preschool is free for all families in Michigan — but many don't know about it
Whitmer wants to boost the share of Michigan residents who pursue post-secondary education and skills training and has set a goal of reaching 60% of Michigan adults with a skill certificate or college degree by 2030. That share stands at about 52%, according to the most recent data shared by Whitmer from the Lumina Foundation, whose analysis her administration has used to track progress made toward reaching target.
During the sweepstakes launch event, the governor touted the Michigan Achievement Scholarship, which provides financial aid for college and university, and the Michigan Achievement Skills Scholarship, which provides support for a career training program. Whitmer also championed the Community College Guarantee, which provides a tuition-free path for graduating high school students to attend their local community college.
"We don't want any student to leave money on the table," Whitmer said.
Contact Clara Hendrickson at chendrickson@freepress.com or 313-296-5743.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan sweepstakes will award 50 students for FAFSA form
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
Lee Zeldin tells 'Pod Force One' how Stacey Abrams and Obama, Biden allies cashed in on $20 billion climate slush fund
The Biden administration tried to tie the Environmental Protection Agency's 'hands behind its back' by sticking it with billions of dollars that was later funneled to lefty nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin told The Post's Miranda Devine on the latest episode of 'Pod Force One,' out now. 'When I was going through the confirmation process [in January], this video comes out,' the former Long Island congressman recalled. 'It was done through Project Veritas, but it was of a Biden EPA employee who was talking about how the agency was tossing gold bars off the Titanic, rushing to get billions of dollars out the door before Inauguration Day. He was also talking about the desire to get themselves jobs at the recipient NGOs.' After Zeldin was confirmed by the Senate, he and his staff began investigating 'with great enthusiasm and eagerness.' 4 Lee Zeldin claimed that EPA lacked adequate oversight of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. Ron Sachs – CNP for NY Post 'Basically, every time we overturned a rock, we found something under it that was either filled with self-dealing and conflicts of interest, unqualified recipients or reduced agency oversight,' he recounted to Devine. Zeldin made headlines Feb. 12, when he announced that the EPA had located $20 billion 'parked at an outside financial institution,' later revealed to be Citibank. 'They decided … to have that bank send the money through eight pass-through entities, all these NGOs [were] pass-through entities that were riddled with self-dealing and conflicts of interest, former Obama and Biden officials, Democratic donors … and the EPA was a party to the account control agreement with those prime recipients,' he said. 'But here's the thing, when the money goes through the prime recipients to others — in many cases, also pass-throughs — EPA no longer is a party of the account control agreement,' Zeldin went on. 'EPA is losing oversight by design intentionally.' One example of a beneficiary from the so-called 'slush fund' cited by Zeldin is Power Forward Communities, a coalition of nonprofits, including one linked to two-time Georgia Democratic gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams. 4 Lee Zeldin noted that an investigation into the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund is still ongoing. Ron Sachs – CNP for NY Post 'This entity received $100 in 2023,' Zeldin said. 'The Biden EPA gave them $2 billion in 2024, putting in their grant agreement a requirement that they needed to complete training called, 'How to develop a budget within 90 days.' So the Biden EPA said they didn't know how to develop a budget, and yet, in that window, they were able to start spending down the balance.' 'Many of the costs are just presented [with] little or no explanation as to why they are reasonable,' Zeldin went on. 'They're paying their CEO $800,000 or COO, $450,000, [they have] 22 people receiving over $150,000, and there's all different kinds of complaints, concerns expressed by Biden EPA officials saying, 'executive salaries appear excessive.' Another added that 'senior management salaries are seemingly high without justification.'' Every week, Post columnist Miranda Devine sits down for exclusive and candid conversations with the most influential disruptors in Washington. Subscribe here! Abrams was a senior counsel for Rewiring America, which advocates moving homes away from fossil fuel usage. She does not appear to have been tied to the Biden EPA grant, and her time as counsel ended last year. Zeldin also pointed to Appalachian Community Capital, which got about $500 million from the fund in 2023 and spent under $4.5 million so far — 'another example of very small NGOs, very limited experience, getting large sums of money,' as he told Devine. 4 Stacey Abrams has been actively involved in the progressive nonprofit world since losing her two runs for Georgia governor. Getty Images Full Episode 'A reviewer, a Biden EPA official — not a Trump political appointee, a Biden official — notes that Appalachian Community Capital plans to use $215 million to finance 600 zero-emission vehicles, and $105 million to finance 700 charging stations,' Zeldin said. 'For those at home doing the math, and this is a quote from the Biden EPA official, 'This is $358,333 per EV vehicle,' the reviewer wrote, adding that $150,000 per charging station 'seems too high.'' he continued. Congress had created the $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act to boost green energy initiatives across the country. The $7 billion not included in the 'slush fund' is going toward a 'Solar for All' initiative that will begin later this year. But Zeldin was unsure where much of the $20 billion had gone thus far. 4 Lee Zeldin said one of his top priorities at EPA is to ensure the public has access to clean water and air. Getty Images 'You can ask me 10, 15, 20 of the first most important questions that come to mind as far as where the money was going after it leaves the pass-through entities. And the crazy thing is how little I would be able to answer, even today,' he said. Zeldin moved to cancel the outstanding climate grants back in March, triggering litigation from affected nonprofits. 'DOJ and FBI would be the ones to answer any questions as far as criminality,' he said. 'There was, by far, way too much waste and abuse as a systemic programmatic issue, where we had to take action quickly, which we were happy to do.' Zeldin stressed that he doesn't want to take 'money from a left-wing activist group and give it to a right-wing activist group. He said he just wants to make sure taxpayer dollars are being spent wisely. 'I think that the American public are, they're fed up with the bulls—t,' he said bluntly. ' And they want people in government to fight for them, to be a good steward of their tax dollars, and they don't want to get gaslit by congressional Democrats.'
New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
Billionaire hedge fund heir Elizabeth Simons donates $250K to pro-Zohran Mamdani Super PAC
Philanthropist Elizabeth Simons, daughter of the late billionaire hedge fund investor Jamie Simons, donated $250,000 to the pro-Zohran Mamdani Super PAC New Yorkers for Lower Costs. The contribution is the largest made to the group promoting the Democratic socialist nominee's mayoral campaign, which has already raised nearly $2 million from nearly 300 separate donations. Simons is the chairwoman of the board of directors of the Heising-Simons Foundation, which she co-founded with her husband, Mark Heising. The daughter of late billionaire hedge fund investor Jamie Simons, Elizabeth Simons, has made a $250,000 contribution to the pro-Zohran Mamdani Super PAC New Yorkers for Lower Costs. James Keivom James Simons founded Renaissance Technologies, and he and wife, Marilyn, donated $1 billion to his former employer, Stony Brook University, where he was a math professor. Marilyn is an alumna of the Long Island school, which is part of the State University of New York. James Simons died last year. His net worth was estimated at $31.4 billion. The Super PAC operates independently of the Mamdani campaign. Simons is currently the chairwoman of the board of directors of the Heising-Simons Foundation. Getty Images Mamdani caused a stir when he said there shouldn't be billionaires during an interview after he won the Democratic primary. 'I don't think that we should have billionaires because, frankly, it is so much money in a moment of such inequality, and ultimately, what we need more of is equality across our city and across our state and across our country,' he told NBC's 'Meet the Press' in June. Billionaire Illinois Dem Gov. JB Pritzker fired back at the time saying, 'Look, how much money you have doesn't determine what your values are.' Fix the City, a Super PAC backing Andrew Cuomo's campaign for mayor, raised a staggering $26 million. Last week, it landed a $100,000 donation from Walmart heir and philanthropist Alice Walton, a big backer of charter schools. The disgraced former governor lost the Democratic primary to Mamdani despite the hefty financial backing, and now is running on an independent ballot line. There are also Super PACs supporting incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, who is seeking re-election as an independent after skipping the Democratic primary.
Politico
3 hours ago
- Politico
More funding clawbacks loom over Congress
IN TODAY'S EDITION:— Pocket rescissions could topple funding talks— Kiley pressures Johnson on redistricting— Republicans defer to Trump on Russia Congress is staring down a White House threat to attempt the ultimate override of lawmakers' funding power: 'pocket rescissions.' We're now in the last 45 days of the current fiscal year. If President Donald Trump sends another package of funding cuts at this point, the administration argues it can treat that funding as expired come midnight Oct. 1 — regardless of congressional action. It's a controversial tactic that White House budget director Russ Vought has persistently pushed, and it's making some GOP lawmakers uneasy, Katherine Tully-McManus and Jennifer Scholtes report. 'I'm just not going to aid and abet moving appropriations decisions over to the Article II branch,' Sen. Thom Tillis told us in an interview. He added he won't support more clawback packages if the White House doesn't provide account-by-account details of how the funding would be cut. The pocket rescissions maneuver risks throwing Republicans into another dicey balancing act of trying not to buck Trump while answering to constituents unhappy about more funding cuts for widely used programs. Public broadcasting and foreign aid were on the chopping block in the first bill lawmakers passed in July to cut congressionally-approved spending. Officials have signaled the Department of Education will be the target of a second package — though the specifics are unclear. Democrats see the threat of pocket rescissions as a major obstacle to avoiding a government shutdown after Sept. 30. Sen. Chris Coons, a senior Democratic appropriator, accused Vought of 'trying to throw a wrench' in bipartisan appropriations negotiations. Meanwhile, top Republicans hope to avoid pocket rescissions altogether. Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins has called the move illegal; the Government Accountability Office has said the same. And Senate Majority Leader John Thune stressed he would prefer to handle any more spending cuts through the regular appropriations process, rather than another rescissions measure. GOOD WEDNESDAY MORNING. Email us: crazor@ and mmccarthy@ THE LEADERSHIP SUITE Kiley calls on Johnson to take up redistricting bill California GOP Rep. Kevin Kiley is upping the pressure on Speaker Mike Johnson to take up his bill to ban mid-decade redistricting after Johnson criticized Gov. Gavin Newsom for Democrats' redistricting plans. 'Mr. Speaker, these are nice words but we need action,' Kiley said in a Tuesday post on X responding to Johnson's statement. 'You can stop Newsom's Redistricting Sham and save our taxpayers $250 million by bringing my mid-decade redistricting bill to the Floor.' A standoff over an effort to redistrict in GOP-led Texas ended earlier this week, with Democrats returning to the state to give Republicans a quorum to pass the new map. But they only came back with promises from Newsom to redesign California's map to add the same number of Democratic-leaning seats that Texas was redrawing. Johnson and other House GOP leaders previously said they prefer leaving redistricting decisions to each state. The speaker said in a post on X Monday that he instructed the NRCC to use 'every measure and resource possible' to stop California, sparking Kiley's comment. A spokesperson for Johnson did not respond to a request for comment. Clark backtracks on Gaza House Minority Whip Katherine Clark now says she did not accuse the Israeli government of committing a genocide in Gaza, after previously referring to 'genocide and destruction' in the war torn strip, Nicole Markus reports. 'Last week, while attending an event in my district, I repeated the word 'genocide' in response to a question. I want to be clear that I am not accusing Israel of genocide,' Clark said in a statement Tuesday. 'We all need to work with urgency to bring the remaining hostages home, surge aid to Palestinians and oppose their involuntary relocation, remove Hamas from power, and end the war.' Clark said during the event that attendees should 'take action in time to make a difference' such as 'stopping the starvation and genocide and destruction of Gaza.' Immediately after the event, a spokesperson did not walk back the characterization and said Clark's position on the conflict hadn't changed. POLICY RUNDOWN WHITE HOUSE FAST-TRACKS FED NOM — The White House is working over August recess to pave the way for swift confirmation of Stephen Miran, who Trump has tapped to serve on the Federal Reserve board. Miran — who currently serves as Trump's chief economist — met with key members of the Senate Banking Committee, including Chair Tim Scott and Sen. Jim Banks, over the past week. The administration hopes a flurry of Hill meetings will allow Miran to be confirmed soon after lawmakers return in September, in time to attend the Fed's planned meeting mid-month in his new role, Jordain Carney scoops. Miran will need the committee's green light before his nomination heads to the full Senate. 'With the President's strong backing, there's clear momentum to get this done,' a White House official told Jordain, adding that they're actively pushing for a September floor vote. SCOTT SEES BIPARTISAN CRYPTO OPPORTUNITY — Scott said he believes about a dozen Democrats could join Senate Republicans in backing legislation that sets up market rules for digital assets, Michael Stratford reports. 'I believe that we'll have between 12 and 18 Democrats at least open to voting for a market structure' bill, Scott said at the Wyoming Blockchain Summit. He had previously eyed a markup of the bill, which already passed the House with support from over 70 Democrats, when Congress returns in September. Scott conceded, however, that the market structure bill is a 'far more complicated piece of legislation' than the landmark cryptocurrency legislation that passed earlier this year. Banking ranking member Elizabeth Warren has been leading the opposition to this new measure, arguing it lacks the necessary guardrails. REPUBLICANS DEFER TO TRUMP ON RUSSIA — Sen. Tommy Tuberville doesn't seem keen on taking up Sen. Lindsey Graham's Russian sanctions bill in September, arguing the president can handle it without Congress' help. 'We don't need to be over telling him what to do,' Tuberville told reporters during a pro forma session Tuesday. 'I think it would just tie him to what we would pass instead of give him an opportunity to do what he needs to do, because he knows a lot more about it than us. I think we need to, just need to stay out of it.' Rep. Virginia Foxx had similar comments during the House's pro forma session Tuesday, arguing 'there's a lot that the president knows and understands that the rest of us don't know.' 'We need to move this as quickly as possible and I think he's doing that,' Foxx said. 'It didn't turn out as quick as he thought it would.' INSIDE RSC'S MEGABILL 2.0 BRIEFING — GOP aides heard from experts at the America First Policy Institute Tuesday on the topics of tax and higher education policy that could be included in the next party-line tax and spending package. Attendees of the Republican Study Committee's staff briefing examined provisions that did not make it into the first reconciliation bill due to Byrd Rule constraints but which 'could be retooled for a second bill,' an RSC spokesperson tells us. Best of POLITICO Pro and E&E: THE BEST OF THE REST 'Not on their nice list': Sen. Josh Hawley irks Republicans as he tries to carve out a lane, from Allan Smith, Julie Tsirkin and Matt Dixon at NBC News California's in a nationwide redistricting civil war. Who's favored to win? from David Lightman at The Sacramento Bee THE CARRYOUT A recess spotlight on lawmakers' Capitol Hill food recs Sen. John Hoeven said his favorite meal at the Capitol is one of the big club sandwiches from Senate carryout. 'I love getting those sandwiches where you stack the beef and the ham and the turkey and all those cheeses and lettuce and tomato,' Hoeven told Mia. 'I always put it on rye, get some mustard. I love that.' What Capitol meal do you love? Email mmccarthy@ and crazor@ CODEL CORNER CODEL IN SYRIA — A bipartisan delegation including Sens. Markwayne Mullin and Joni Ernst and Reps. Jason Smith and Jimmy Panetta made a visit to Syria. The group met new Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus to discuss bilateral dialogue as Trump moves to lift sanctions. CAMPAIGN STOP BROWN'S CASH BOOST — Sherrod Brown raised over $3.6 million within the first 24 hours of launching his comeback bid for Ohio's Senate seat, his campaign reported Tuesday. The release states the influx was fueled by small-dollar donations, 'with 95 percent of individual donations under $100' and from all 88 counties in Ohio. HOGG BACKS CASAR — Leaders We Deserve, the group co-founded by former DNC official David Hogg, is throwing money behind Rep. Greg Casar in what could be a thorny primary against Rep. Lloyd Doggett, Aaron Pellish reports in POLITICO Score this morning. The GOP redistricting proposal in Texas would draw the two Democrats into the same Austin-area district. '78-year-old Lloyd Doggett is preparing to light $6 million on fire to box out an incredible next-generation progressive leader,' Hogg told Aaron. 'He should use his campaign cash to help Democrats flip Texas seats and pass the torch to 36-year-old Greg Casar.' JOB BOARD Gerardo Bonilla Chavez is joining The Century Foundation as director of government affairs. He previously was chief of staff for Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and was a 2024 Pritzker fellow at the University of Chicago Institute of Politics. Anderson Tran joins the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council as chief policy counsel and senior adviser. Tran previously served as legislative counsel to Sen. Dan Sullivan. Jordan Dayer joins the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council as its adviser for congressional and intergovernmental affairs. Dayer was previously director of the Republican Cloakroom in the House. TUNNEL TALK JOHNSON CHIEF'S DUI DEVELOPMENT — Johnson's chief of staff, Hayden Haynes, changed his plea to guilty Monday in his DUI charge, according to court documents. Haynes initially pleaded not guilty when accused of striking a Secret Service vehicle at the Capitol while drunk driving a Tesla on the night of Trump's joint address to Congress in March. As part of the plea deal, Haynes will enter a diversion program in D.C. with community service. HAPPY BIRTHDAY Sen. Steve Daines … Reps. Brad Schneider and Kathy Castor … former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell (92) …former Reps. Ron Paul (9-0) and Rubén Hinojosa … Larry Kudlow … Bully Pulpit International's Ben LaBolt … Targeted Victory's Zac Moffatt and Ryan Meerstein … Heather Samuelson … Jeff Morehouse … POLITICO's Natalie Fertig and Doug Palmer … Jenny Backus … Matt Shapanka … Madeline Shepherd … Faryar Shirzad … Michael Donaher … Gina Keeney … Connie Chung … Jim Hock of PSP Partners TRIVIA TUESDAY'S ANSWER: Kip Lipper correctly answered that Richard Nixon was the first U.S. president born in California. TODAY'S QUESTION, from Mia: Who was the first sitting U.S. president to visit Cape Cod? The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Inside Congress. Send your answers to insidecongress@
