Earlier this month, the proposed budget for the state of Michigan came out of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's office. In this budget, Gov. Whitmer cut the Michigan Tuition Grant, a $2400 annual grant given to low-income and middle-class students who attend Michigan's private universities. This mid-semester news has impacted many college students across the state, and left us scrambling to find $1200 by the end of the semester just so we are able to register for classes and to apply to graduate. While I understand that Gov. Whitmer is using the Michigan Tuition Grant as leverage for negotiations with Republicans in the legislature, low-income and middle-class college students are not your political pawns. And to the Republican legislative leaders, your incompetence and stubbornness to discuss negotiations are hurting us just as much. There is only so much time before registration for the winter semester starts. Your political grandstanding is hurting real people. As your constituents, we implore you to keep funding for the Michigan Tuition Grant in the final state budget!

There are many misconceptions about this grant. Many people believe that people who lost this grant should have gone to a public university instead. It is my own experience, and the experience of many of my peers, that our private university was the only school they applied to that offered them any scholarships. It was our most financially responsible option. Many people believe that only wealthy kids go to private universities, and therefore there is no need for this grant. Myself, and many of my peers, come from low-income or middle-class families and rely on this grant to assist in attending college. Many people believe that tax-payer dollars should not be used to fund private schools. Great-- I agree! However, these grants do not fund private schools, they only provide additional financial aid to students who attend these universities and qualify for aid.