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2024-2025 Grants

2024-2025 Grants

Barrier Removal—Direct to Students Grant

  • Grant Opportunity

    Description Postsecondary education and training play an essential role in upskilling Michiganders to build a globally competitive economy. Recognizing this, the state set a postsecondary attainment goal of having sixty percent of working-age Michiganders with a postsecondary credential by 2030. To achieve this goal and address talent shortages, ambitious strategies are needed to support postsecondary institutions to enroll and graduate more learners who have historically been the most marginalized by existing systems. Therefore, the Office of Sixty by 30 at MiLEAP is offering a wide range of competitive grant opportunities for Michigan’s public colleges, tribal colleges, and public universities to invest in the implementation of evidence-based student success strategies. The goal of the Student Success Grant funding opportunities is to provide support to institutions that are committed to planning for, improving upon, or scaling implementation of promising reforms of policy and practice associated with decreased time to credential, increased student persistence, improved completion rates for all learners, and the elimination of equity gaps. All grant information is available at www.michigan.gov/sixtyby30grants.

    The “Barrier Removal - Direct to Students” opportunity fund is designed for IHEs to provide emergency grants and other direct aid to students to eliminate financial barriers to completion. Award amounts are formula-based, dependent on the number of Pell-eligible students served.

    Important Dates

    Applications will be due on April 11, 2025.

    Institutions will not be eligible to receive multiple Barrier Removal—Direct to Students grants. (The 2025 Barrier Removal--Direct to Student grants are only available for colleges and universities that were not awarded in 2024.) 

  • Eligibility

    Michigan public community colleges, tribal colleges, public universities, and nonprofit organizations serving college students are eligible to apply. Nonprofit organizations may apply either with strong support and partnership of one or more colleges (to deliver support to students on behalf of or in partnership with the institution), or as independent efforts to help target student populations. In the latter case, the nonprofit will need to demonstrate its independent ability to reach students and avoid duplication of efforts with colleges. 2 Direct to Students grants do not affect eligibility for any other categories of Success competitive grants administered by the Office of Sixty by 30 and can be received concurrent with other grants.

    Evaluation criteria

    Proposals requesting funds for Barrier Removal—Direct to Students will be evaluated based on:

    1. A clear strategy for ensuring funds are directed to the students who need them most and can be distributed efficiently;
    2. A plan for cross-silo communication/collaboration to ensure target students are met wherever they are; and
    3. A commitment to and plan for tracking impact

    For grant eligibility questions or technical assistance, please contact Sixtyby30-Grants@michigan.gov.

  • Grant awards

    Award amounts to colleges and nonprofits partnering closely with colleges are formula-based.

    In 2021-2022, 33% of Michigan’s degree-seeking college students were Pell-eligible. The median Pell-eligible rate at Michigan’s colleges was 39.6%. While Pell does not provide a full picture of student need at a college, it does serve as a reliable indicator for the purposes of determining how to allot this fund. A college’s Direct to Students award amount, if the application is successful, will be calculated based on the criteria described below. The department has already calculated the maximum award amount for each college, which can be found on an information sheet at https://www.michigan.gov/mileap/higher-education/sixty-by-30/grants/barrier-removal---direct-to-students.

    • Colleges with a Pell eligibility rate less than the median in 2021-2022 will be eligible to receive up to $65 per Pell-eligible degree-seeking student, plus a 10% allowance for administration, capped at $30,000.
    • Colleges with a Pell eligibility rate above the median in 2021-2022 will be eligible to receive up to $90 per Pell-eligible degree-seeking student, plus a 10% allowance for administration, capped at $30,000.
    • If a college’s award amount based on this formula would be less than $15,000, the college may request up to $15,000. To encourage colleges of all size to participate, colleges receiving grants of this size will also have streamlined reporting requirements at the end of the grant cycle.

    These formulae determine the maximum award amount but are not meant to drive the spending plan. Please see the eligible expenses for additional information, below. Each college should apply for an award up to their maximum that is based on achieving the spending plan within the given time window.

    These formula-based grants must be spent within two years of the award; ideally the grants are expended in a shorter timeframe. Each grant agreement will be based on the timeline the applicant describes in their proposal.

    If a nonprofit is applying in partnership with a college, the grant award will be based on the above formula for that college.

    If a nonprofit is applying independent of a college, the grant award will not exceed one year and $50,000. The nonprofit should justify its award amount in its proposal. Additional data collection may be required to ensure that aid is not being duplicated.

    Example A: Michigan College had a degree-seeking student body that was 42% Pell-eligible in 2021-2022, with 4,320 Pell-eligible degree-seeking students.

    • 4,320 x $90 = $388,800 • $432,000 x 10% = $43,200 - this amount exceeds $30,000 cap
    • Total award = $388,800 + 30,000 = $418,800

    Example B: ABC Nonprofit is administering aid and connecting students to its other programs in a close partnership with Michigania College. Michigania had a degree-seeking student body that was 31% Pell-eligible in 2021-2022, with 578 Pell-eligible degree-seeking students.

    • 578 x $65 = $37,570 • $37,570 x 10% = $3,757
    • Total award = $37,570 + $3,757 = $41,327

    Colleges may apply for less than the amount the formula would prescribe, but not more.

    Eligible expenses:

    Institutions can use funding to support the following expenses.

    • Financial assistance for students with greatest need, with or without documented emergencies, and other cost-reduction measures for students (e.g., emergency housing stipend/placement assistance, childcare, on-campus food pantries, transportation subsidies)
      • The State is not defining for institutions how they should calculate students “with greatest need.” This is considered an institutional decision, but applicants should explain how they are making that determination in their proposal.
      • The goal is to eliminate barriers to increase certificate and degree completion. While the formula is based on Pell eligible students, that should not be interpreted to restrict student eligibility.
    • Printing, materials, equipment and supplies
    • IT supports to help reach students • Staff time to effectively administer program (please include staff time as an amount based on a percentage of actual salary and benefits, rather than using an indirect cost rate) While the award amount is formula based, the formula is not meant to drive spending decisions at the college. In other words, it is not the State’s intent that colleges should award every Pell-eligible student $65 and retain a percentage for admin; to the contrary, successful applications will demonstrate a plan for thoughtfully targeting students with the greatest need and for the greatest impact. Up to 25% of the budget may go towards other program costs, but at least 75% of the budget should be passed on to students. For this grant, the intent is to maximize funding that reaches students directly. Larger institutional improvements or reforms should be pursued through a Barrier Removal - Growing Institutional Capacity grant.

    In addition to Direct to Students grants, additional funding is being made available for institutions to strengthen institutional systems to eliminate barriers for students struggling to meet their basic needs. These competitive grants will provide between $100,000-400,000 per award to build broader institutional capacity and strengthen community partnerships as part of establishing a system of support for students. Institutions applying for a Barrier Removal - Direct to Students grant are encouraged to consider applying for a Barrier Removal - Growing Institutional Capacity grant as well, to ensure that all efforts to meet the basic needs of students attend to the infrastructure required for effective administration of emergency aid. In addition, institutions that would benefit from a self-assessment, student voice, or strategic planning process to determine the best use of a Growing Institutional Capacity grant are encouraged to explore whether a Quick Start grant would be a helpful precursor. More information on these other grant opportunities is available at https://www.michigan.gov/sixtyby30grants.

  • Grant Application

    DO NOT EMAIL A DOCUMENT AS AN APPLICATION. All applications must be submitted through the grants application portal found at https://www.michigan.gov/sixtyby30grants.

    This word version of the application is being provided for your planning and drafting purposes only.

    You will be prompted to provide the following information:

    • Applicant Organization Name
    • Organization EIN
    • Project Name (if applicable)
    • Address
    • Contact Person & Title
    • Direct Phone
    • Email
    • Applicant Organization CEO Name & Contact
    • Amount Requested
    • A brief description of the project(s), in 300 words or less. This description may be used in communications materials. (This application must be signed by the person authorized to accept external contracts and grants on behalf of the organization. No application will be accepted without a correct authorized fiscal agent signature.)

    Proposal Description

    Please answer the following questions:

    1. What do you know about how unmet basic needs create barriers to persistence and completion for your students? Please provide data that you have on your student population and priority challenges at your institution, not a summary of research from the field. (max 1300 characters)
    2. Please describe your plan for the funds and for ensuring funds are directed to the students who need them most and can be distributed efficiently. Be sure to include a description of the process by which students request and are awarded funds, along with a timeline for spending the funds. If these dollars will enter a fund/process that the college already uses to administer emergency grants or additional aid, please provide a description here and see “optional attachments” for an opportunity to provide more information. (max 2000 characters)
    3. Which offices/teams/units at your college (or the college you are partnering with) have been consulted as you have developed this plan for deploying funding? Who will be the lead (name and role)? (max 700 characters)
    4. Please describe your plan for cross-silo communication/collaboration to ensure target students are met wherever they are. What more can you do to ensure that students are aware of the availability of support? (max 1300 characters)
    5. Please describe your plan for tracking the impact of the barrier removal funds distributed directly to students. (max 1300 characters)
    6. If you are a nonprofit, please describe the partnership you have established with a college to ensure effective administration of direct-to-student funds. If you are a college, you may provide more information about any partnerships that are helping you to deliver support to students. If not relevant, leave blank. (max 1300 characters) 
    7. Please confirm your commitment to all the following statements:
      • We commit to centering the interests and experiences of learners.
      • The institution's president is aware and supportive of this project and the grant application.
      • We commit to the courageous examination of the impacts of institutional policies and practices on the experiences and outcomes of students.
      • We commit to approaching students from an asset-based perspective and to being tenacious in the work of removing institutional barriers to student success.

      Budget Guidelines and Budget Narrative Instructions

      Please complete the budget form below for your proposed program. Match funds are not required. Each field must have a number entered, so for fields you are not using, please enter a 0. Do not use commas for values over 999.

      • Stipends, grants, gift cards, vouchers, financial aid – Funds being provided directly to students, as emergency grants or via other means • Materials and Supplies – Includes expendable office, meeting, printing, and educational materials and supplies supporting the project
      • Staff Time – Includes salary and benefits or stipends • Other Direct Costs – Includes services such as computer services/web support, meeting costs not included in the Materials & Supplies category, phone/fax/postage, other expenses (provide justification) We understand that it takes time and resources to administer aid to students. We are asking that instead of an indirect cost rate, the college estimate costs for staff directly involved with the program and build those costs into the budget. Attachments to Grant Application
      • REQUIRED: Organization W9 • Optional: If you will partner with any other organizations to administer the program(s) for which you are seeking funding (for instance, a community-based organization), submit a letter of support from that entity.
      • Optional: If you are directing these funds into a well-established program or protocol for providing emergency grants and other aid for students struggling to meet basic needs, please provide materials that would allow us to understand the program. This could include program/policy guidance, an annual report or other data, or examples of communications to students about the program. Combine into a single PDF.

      Budget Form

      Category

      Amount

      Stipends, grants, gift cards, vouchers, financial aid

      -

      Materials and Supplies

      -

      Staff Time

      -

      Other Direct Costs

      -

      Total

      -

    Attachments to Grant Application

    • REQUIRED: Organization W9
    • Optional: If you will partner with any other organizations to administer the program(s) for which you are seeking funding (for instance, a community-based organization), submit a letter of support from that entity.
    • Optional: If you are directing these funds into a well-established program or protocol for providing emergency grants and other aid for students struggling to meet basic needs, please provide materials that would allow us to understand the program. This could include program/policy guidance, an annual report or other data, or examples of communications to students about the program. Combine into a single PDF.

    Resources for Anchoring Student Success Efforts & Centering Student Experience

    Colleges, universities, and nonprofits applying for College Success grants should be committed to leveraging existing knowledge and evidence related to promising practices from Michigan and nationally. Michigan is a member of Complete College America and Strong Start to Finish, and MCCA, MASU, and MCACS are important sources of information, research, and practical tools. The following list of frameworks and resources are examples of grounding material for student success efforts. It is not an exhaustive list.

Barrier Removal—Growing Institutional Capacity Grant Application

  • Grant Opportunity Description

    Postsecondary education and training play an essential role in upskilling Michiganders to build a globally competitive economy. Recognizing this, the state set a postsecondary attainment goal of having sixty percent of working-age Michiganders with a postsecondary credential by 2030. To achieve this goal and address talent shortages, ambitious strategies are needed to support postsecondary institutions to enroll and graduate more learners who have historically been the most marginalized by existing systems. Therefore, the Office of Sixty by 30 at MiLEAP is offering a wide range of competitive grant opportunities for Michigan’s public colleges, tribal colleges, and public universities to invest in the implementation of evidence-based student success strategies.

    The goal of the Student Success Grant funding opportunities is to provide support to institutions that are committed to planning for, improving upon, or scaling implementation of promising reforms of policy and practice associated with decreased time to credential, increased student persistence, improved completion rates for all learners, and the elimination of equity gaps. All grant information is available at https://www.michigan.gov/sixtyby30grants.

    The “Barrier Removal - Growing Institutional Capacity” opportunity fund is designed for IHEs to develop supportive policies, practices, infrastructure, and community partnerships that will help eliminate life and poverty-related barriers to educational completion, and to more nimbly respond to support students when those problems arise. The Barrier Removal - Growing Institutional Capacity fund is designed as a complement to the Barrier Removal - Direct to Students fund which aims to provide emergency grants and other direct aid to students to eliminate barriers to completion. And like the College Success grants, expected impacts should include decreased time to credential, increased student persistence, improved completion rates for all learners—and particularly those with unmet financial needs—and the elimination of equity gaps.

    Important Dates

    Applications will be due on June 20, 2025.

    Applicants who would like to receive feedback on a preliminary version of their proposal are invited to submit it as a word document to MiLEAP-Sixtyby30-Grants@michigan.gov according to the deadlines below. Be sure to include your institution’s name in the filename of the preliminary application and include the words “Prereview request” in the subject line of your email. Do not include additional attachments; the prereview is limited to the grant narrative and budget. You will receive feedback at least two weeks prior to the grant application deadline.

    • Prereview deadline for June 20 application: May 16

  • Eligibility

    Michigan public community colleges, tribal colleges, public universities, and nonprofit organizations serving college students are eligible to apply. Partnerships or consortia that include one or more colleges or universities are eligible to apply. Nonprofit organizations may apply with strong support and partnership of one or more colleges. Colleges are eligible even if they are still receiving a 2023 College Success Grant. Colleges can receive multiple College Success Grants, but according to the following rules:

    • If a school is receiving a Quick Start grant, it can apply for an Amplify grant but should hold off on applying for an Accelerate, Go Big, or Barrier Removal—Growing Institutional Capacity grant until the activities of the Quick Start grant are concluded.
    • A school will not receive more than two grants across Amplify, Accelerate, Go Big, or Barrier Removal—Growing Institutional Capacity grants.
    • A school will not receive more than one grant in any of those subcategories.
    • An institution cannot receive both an Accelerate and a Go Big grant.

    Colleges applying for multiple grants across these categories will need to speak to their capacity to deliver the activities of both grants.

    A college should not apply for more grants than it is eligible to receive. Therefore, it is important to coordinate applications at institutional leadership levels.

    Evaluation criteria

    Proposals requesting funds to strengthen systemic institutional capacity to remove life barriers and poverty-related barriers to students will be evaluated based on:

    1. The presence of sound design principles and a clear plan for building institutional capacity grounded in evidence and data.
    2. Commitment to and a clear plan for strengthening community partnerships as part of establishing a system of support for students
    3. A plan for cross-silo communication/collaboration to ensure that everyone who interacts with students is equipped to connect students to needed resources.
    4. A plan for sustaining and further deepening the capacity of the institution beyond the end of the grant.

    For grant eligibility questions or technical assistance, please contact Sixtyby30-Grants@michigan.gov.

    Areas of Focus

    Successful proposals will likely include at least of the following areas of focus:

    • Building or strengthening community partnerships to improve outreach and delivery of basic needs resource and supports.
    • Building or strengthening community partnerships to improve mental health and wellness resources and supports
    • Institutional policy and practice audit and improvement related to the administration of basic needs (food, housing, childcare, transportation, etc.).
    • Building or strengthening institutional policy and practices related to digital equity
    • Relevant training and professional learning opportunities for faculty, staff, and administrators.
    • The implementation and scaling of high impact practices in holistic student supports

    A plan for evaluation is required to be submitted with the grant application.

  • Grant awards

    Grants of between $100,000-400,000 will be awarded on a competitive basis for projects with a duration of 1-3 years.

    Eligible expenses

    Institutions can use funding to support the following expenses.

    • Professional development, technical assistance, vendors/contractors
    • Materials and equipment
    • Stipends for faculty and staff taking on additional roles
    • Convening and event planning
    • Grants/honoraria for students participating in planning efforts
    • Institutional resources for mental health, on-campus food pantries, etc.
    • Third-party services that help expand institutional capacity
    • Community-based partner organizations
    • Equipment and facilities upgrades with strong connection to student success

    Investments in Open Educational Resources Additional expenses may be approved at the discretion of the Office of Sixty by 30. 

  • Grant Application

    DO NOT EMAIL A DOCUMENT AS AN APPLICATION. All applications must be submitted through the grants application portal found at https://www.michigan.gov/sixtyby30grants.

    This word version of the application is being provided for your planning and drafting purposes only.

    You will be prompted to provide the following information:

    • Applicant Organization Name
    • Organization EIN
    • Project Name (if applicable)
    • Address
    • Contact Person & Title
    • Direct Phone
    • Email
    • Applicant Organization CEO Name & Contact
    • Amount Requested
    • A brief description of the project(s), in 300 words or less. This description may be used in communications materials.

    (This application must be signed by the person authorized to accept external contracts and grants on behalf of the organization. No application will be accepted without a correct authorized fiscal agent signature.)

    Proposal Description

    1. Please provide a concise description of the approach you are taking to growing your institution’s capacity to meet the basic needs of students, including how student experience will change if you’re successful. (max 900 characters)
    2. Please describe what you know about how unmet basic needs create barriers to education for your students? Please provide data that you have on your students and their experiences, as well as priority challenges at your institution, not a summary on research from the field. (max 2500 characters)
    3. Please describe the basic needs approach/framework or self-assessment processes you have been involved with undergird your proposed approach, including evidence regarding practices or policies that are serving as models for your approach. (max 2500 characters)
    4. Please describe your plan for the funds. Be sure to describe how the use of resources will build directly on existing efforts and how you have chosen or will choose partners, technical assistance providers, and/or consultants. (max 3000 characters)
    5. What are the key milestones against which you will be able to assess progress and make mid-stream adjustments to your approach if needed? (maximum of 3 milestones per year) (max 1600 characters)
    6. Which offices/teams/units at your college have been consulted as you have developed this plan for deploying funding? Please describe your plan for cross-silo communication and collaboration in carrying out the proposed work. (max 1300 characters)
    7. Please describe the community partners/external stakeholders involved in your proposed project and how their involvement will be essential for growing your institution’s capacity for meeting students’ basic needs. (max 2500 characters)
    8. Please describe the connection between your institution’s strategic plan for student success and your proposed project. (max 2000 characters)
    9. Please describe how the results of your project will be institutionalized/become an enduring part of your institution’s fabric/core way of serving students. (max 2500 characters)
    10. Please describe what data you will collect and analyze to track impact and improve your basic needs infrastructure over time? (max 2000 characters)
    11. Please share the list and titles of core team members who would be involved in carrying out the work. (max 1000 characters)
    12. Please confirm your commitment to all of the following statements:
      • We commit to centering the interests and experiences of learners.
      • The institution's president is aware and supportive of this project and the grant application.
      • We commit to the courageous examination of the impacts of institutional policies and practices on the experiences and outcomes of students.
      • We commit to approaching students from an asset-based perspective and to being tenacious in the work of removing institutional barriers to student success.
      • We commit to sharing learning with MiLEAP through participation in qualitative data collection (interview/conversations) up to twice a year.

    Budget Guidelines and Budget Narrative Instructions

    Please complete the budget form below for your proposed program. Match funds are not required. Each field must have a number entered, so for fields you are not using, please enter a 0. Do not use commas for values over 999. Please complete the budget form below for your proposed program. Match funds are not required. Each field must have a number entered, so for fields you are not using, please enter a 0. Do not use commas for values over 999.

    • Professional development, technical assistance, vendors/contractors
    • Materials and equipment
    • Stipends for faculty and staff taking on additional roles
    • Convening and event planning
    • Grants/honoraria for students participating in planning efforts
    • Institutional resources for mental health, on-campus food pantries, etc.
    • Third-party services that help expand institutional capacity
    • Community-based partner organizations

    Attachments to Grant Application

    • REQUIRED for all: Organization W9
    • REQUIRED for all: Evaluation Plan (more information is available at https://www.michigan.gov/sixtyby30grants)
    • Optional: Logic model (recommended but not required).
    • Optional: If you will partner with any other organizations to administer the program(s) for which you are seeking funding (for instance, a community-based organization), submit letters of support from the relevant entities.
    • Optional: Self-assessment or strategic plans that undergird your planning.
    • Optional: CV/professional bios of key leaders in the effort, whether staff/faculty or consultants.

    Budget Form

    Category Amount
    - -
    - -
    - -

    Resources for Exploring Student Basic Needs

    IHEs and nonprofits applying for Student Success Grants should be committed to leveraging existing knowledge and evidence related to promising practices from Michigan and nationally. The following list of research and resources may be helpful to institutions submitting Barrier Removal– Growing Institutional Capacity grant proposals. It is not an exhaustive list.

"Quick Start" Student Success Grant

  • **Updated June 2024 to reflect additional Quick Start Cycle**

    Grant Opportunity Description

    Postsecondary education and training play an essential role in upskilling Michiganders to build a globally competitive economy. Recognizing this, the state set a postsecondary attainment goal of having sixty percent of working-age Michiganders with a postsecondary credential by 2030. To achieve this goal and address talent shortages, ambitious strategies are needed to support postsecondary institutions to enroll and graduate more learners who have historically been the most marginalized by existing systems. Therefore, the Office of Sixty by 30 at MiLEAP is offering a wide range of competitive grant opportunities for Michigan’s public colleges, tribal colleges, and public universities to invest in the implementation of evidence-based student success strategies.

    The goal of the 2024 Student Success Grant funding opportunities is to provide support to institutions that are committed to planning for, improving upon, or scaling implementation of promising reforms of policy and practice associated with decreased time to credential, increased student persistence, improved completion rates for all learners, and the elimination of equity gaps. All grant information is available at www.michigan.gov/sixtyby30grants.

    The “Quick Start” opportunity will provide institutions, consortia of institutions, or nonprofits working in partnership with a college or university with $50,000-75,000 per award to undertake an action-oriented self-assessment process to strengthen grounding in student experience and/or to develop a coherent and strategic approach for removing institutional barriers to student success. Institutions seeking Quick Start funds should aim to do one or more of the following:

    1. Engage in self-assessment using an evidence-based framework for student success as a planning process for a larger Student Success grant in another category and later window;
    2. Elevate student voice and experience to galvanize internal and/or key external stakeholders around a major student success vision and strategy (through a survey, focus groups, student-centered journey mapping); and/or
    3. Bring internal stakeholders together across units and divisions to generate a student success theory of change aligned to the institution’s strategic plan and grounded in data and the student experience. 

    The Quick Start funding opportunity was created to help colleges that are not currently ready to apply for a larger Student Success grant (either/both a College Success grant or Barrier Removal—Growing Institutional Capacity grant) to plan for and/or strengthen the foundation for the development of a larger proposal in a later window. Information about these other grant categories can also be found at www.michigan.gov/sixtyby30grants.

    Important Dates

    Two opportunities for Quick Start grants are being made available, with deadlines for applications on March 22 or May 3. Neither window provides an advantage in terms of likelihood of success.

    The only advantage to submitting for the March 22 deadline is that it is more likely an institution can use the activities funded by the Quick Start grant to plan for a larger College Success grant with an October or November 2024 deadline. Colleges who receive Quick Start grants via the May deadline could struggle to complete their activities completed in time to use the results for another 2024 application. It is anticipated but not guaranteed that other opportunities will open in 2025.

    Update: We have added a third Quick Start grant application.  The deadline for this application is July 26th.

     

  • Eligibility

    Michigan public community colleges, tribal colleges, and public universities are eligible to apply. Nonprofit organizations may apply with strong support and partnership of one or more college partners. The Quick Start grants will not be used to fund prospective partnerships between nonprofits/technical assistance providers and colleges.

    Partnerships or consortia that include one or more colleges are eligible, though members should think carefully about how the goals can be achieved if spread across multiple institutions.

    Colleges are eligible even if they are still receiving a 2023 College Success Grant.

    For grant eligibility questions or technical assistance, please contact Sixtyby30-Grants@michigan.gov.

    Evaluation Criteria

    Proposals for Quick Start Grants will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

    1. An understanding of the role of student experience data in building institution-wide awareness and urgency around the need for a grounded student success strategy.
    2. The quality of the self-assessment tool, process, or consultant/TA partner selected.
    3. A plan for disseminating and using the information gleaned through the process to engage faculty, staff, and administrators around key improvement opportunities.

  • Grant Awards

    The grants, awarded on a competitive basis, will provide between $50,000-$75,000 for a project not to exceed eight months.

    Eligible Expenses

    Institutions can use funding to support the following expenses:

    • High-quality self-assessment tools, educational consultants, and or student voice research partners
    • Stipends for faculty and staff taking on additional roles
    • Convening and event planning
    • Expenses related to training that is directly related to your self-assessment tool or process
    • Materials and supplies
    • Stipends/honoraria for students participating in planning efforts
    • Resources to incentivize participation from community-based partner organizations

  • Grant Application

    DO NOT EMAIL A DOCUMENT AS AN APPLICATION. All applications must be submitted through the grants application portal found at https://www.michigan.gov/sixtyby30grants.

    This word version of the application is being provided for your planning and drafting purposes only.

    You will be prompted to provide the following information:

    • Applicant Organization Name
    • Organization EIN
    • Project Name (if applicable)
    • Address
    • Contact Person & Title
    • Direct Phone
    • Email
    • Applicant Organization CEO Name & Contact
    • Amount Requested
    • A brief description of the project(s), in 300 words or less. This description may be used in communications materials.

    (This application must be signed by the person authorized to accept external contracts and grants on behalf of the organization. No application will be accepted without a correct authorized fiscal agent signature.)

    Proposal Description

    Please answer the following questions:

    1. Please describe your plan for using Quick Start funds to accelerate progress on removing institutional barriers to student success. (max 3200 characters) Be sure to address the following:
      • How did you determine that this project is the right process for your institution right now? (e.g., does it align with your institution’s strategic plan, your students’ needs, or the questions you have about how to strengthen your student success efforts?)
      • What student experience data will you be drawing on/collecting/investigating?
      • What process/tool/framework you will use?
    2. How will you ensure the engagement of faculty/staff/administrators in the process and/or results? (max 2000 characters)
    3. What is the intended outcome of the project, and how do you intend to use or deploy the work that results from this grant? What actions or decisions would follow? (max 1300 characters)
    4. Provide the names and roles of the core team involved in the proposed Quick Start project, and describe how relevant internal and external stakeholders will be engaged through your proposed project? (max 1300 characters)
    5. Please describe in general terms and at a high level, how you will use the resources. See below for the description of budget categories and budget form. (max 1300 characters)
    6. Please describe your timeline for the activities in your Quick Start grant, in a few bullet points. (max 600 characters)
    7. Please confirm your commitment to all the following statements:
      • We commit to centering the interests and experiences of learners.
      • The institution's president is aware and supportive of this project and the grant application.
      • We commit to the courageous examination of the impacts of institutional policies and practices on the experiences and outcomes of students.
      • We commit to approaching students from an asset-based perspective and to being tenacious in the work of removing institutional barriers to student success.
      • We understand that we will not be eligible to receive a College Success Accelerate, College Success Go Big, or a Barrier Removal–Growing Institutional Capacity Grant until the activities of this Quick Start grant are concluded. (We are eligible to concurrently apply for the Barrier Removal-Direct to Students or College Success Amplify grants.)

    Budget Guidelines and Budget Narrative Instructions

    Please complete the budget form below for your proposed program. Match funds are not required. Each field must have a number entered, so for fields you are not using, please enter a 0. Do not use commas for values over 999.

    • Contractual Services – Includes contracted professional services and any sub-awards to partner institutions or organizations necessary for the implementation of the grant (e.g. funds to field NSSE or for an external consultant to facilitate a grounded planning process)
    • Convening and Event Planning -- Includes the cost of meeting space, catering for events, AV, etc.
    • Travel – Includes funds to support stakeholder participation at in-person meetings/convenings
    • Materials and Supplies – Includes expendable office, meeting, and educational materials and supplies supporting the project.
    • Other Direct Costs – Includes services such as computer services/web support, meeting costs not included in the Convening/Event Planning or Materials & Supplies category, phone/fax/postage, and printing.

    Attachments to Grant Application

    • REQUIRED: Organization W9
    • Optional: If you will partner with any other organizations to administer the program(s) for which you are seeking funding (for instance, a community-based organization), submit a letter of support from that entity.
    • Optional: If your application includes multiple colleges, the college serving as the project’s fiscal agent should apply but include a 1–2-page supplement that describes the role other colleges will play, and lists team members from partner colleges.
    • Optional: Please provide any additional information about consultants that will be used.

    Budget Form

    Category

    Amount

    Contractual Services

    -

    Convening & Event Planning

    -

    Travel

    -

    Materials & Supplies

    -

    Other direct costs (See Budget Narrative)

    -

    Total

    -

    Resources for Anchoring Student Success Efforts & Centering Student Experience

    Colleges, universities, and nonprofits applying for College Success grants should be committed to leveraging existing knowledge and evidence related to promising practices from Michigan and nationally. Michigan is a member of Complete College America and Strong Start to Finish, and MCCA, MASU, and MCACS are important sources of information, research, and practical tools. The following list of frameworks and resources are examples of grounding material for student success efforts. It is not an exhaustive list.