New this Year:
Michigan Achievement Scholarship Eligibility Deadline
Starting with Academic Year 2025-26, the final day for students to become eligible for the Michigan Achievement Scholarship in MiSSG will be Friday, August 7, 2026. This means that any students who are ineligible in MiSSG at the end of August 7 will no longer be updated to eligible status for the Michigan Achievement Scholarship for the remainder of the 2025-26 year.
Note:
- Students who are in eligible status may still transfer to your institution past this date.
- If there is a special circumstance where a student needs to be added, email Sarah Laycock at LaycockS@Michigan.gov prior to 12:00 p.m. August 11 for an override.
Continued Procedures:
Michigan Achievement Scholarship - Quarter 4 Special Process Instructions
If a student’s final semester to initiate the Michigan Achievement Scholarship is in a ‘Ready to Pay’ status, that payment must be moved to ‘Paid’ before any subsequent semesters can be certified.
If the ‘Ready to Pay’ status for the initiation semester is not updated to ‘Paid’ during Quarters 1–3, a special process may be required in Quarter 4. MiSSG does not allow certification for semesters beyond the initiation period unless the initial payment has been processed. This issue typically affects students who submit their FAFSA, complete verification, or transfer their MiSSG record late in the academic year.
To request certification for subsequent semesters in these cases, please follow the steps below.
- Complete the certification for the available semester(s) the system will allow within the ‘Must Certify Prior Terms’ rule.
- Send an email to the program coordinator (LaycockS@Michigan.gov) requesting the additional certifications. The following must be included for an override to be performed:
- Student Name and MiSSG ID (DOB and SSN are not accepted).
- Semester(s) certification needs to occur.
- Amount of award to be certified (separated into Minimum/Last-Dollar or Bonus/Last-Dollar).
- Number of Credit Hours and Contact Hours (if in excess of Credit Hours).
- Any reduced award reason applicable.
- The program coordinator will process the student in MiSSG and notify the requestor via email.
- The requestor then must verify the certification in MiSSG is correct and add a comment in the student's MiSSG profile reflecting that, as well as responding to the notification email.
- Any changes to the student’s certification during Quarter 4 will need to be done through the program coordinator.
Because You Asked:
On this segment of Because You Asked, let’s talk about year-end cleanup. Many questions have been asked recently about how to handle students who have completed their verification very late, where the ISIR transaction used at the institution doesn’t match what is in MiSSG. MiSSG will load all 2025-26 FAFSA transactions; including subsequent transactions through July 10, 2026 (unless a student has an award certified or paid reimbursement for Academic Year 2025-26). Once a student has had a reimbursement or certification processed in MiSSG, no further ISIR will load.
When you are using a different transaction to package the student than what is displayed in MiSSG, take these steps:
- Log into MiSSG and locate the student's Michigan Achievement Scholarship profile.
- Click “Update Application Information.”
- Correct fields as needed, such as SAI, Pell Flag, Bachelor's Degree, or other fields.
- Enter the reason for update comment.
- Click “Save.”
This process will update the student’s eligibility status, so long as there are no other ineligible reasons preventing a student from being eligible.
The Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential is not affiliated with National Merit Scholarship Corporation or its registered trademarks National Achievement®, Achievement Scholarship®, or Achievement Scholar®.
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