Michigan National Guard State Tuition Assistance Program MING STAP Public Act 259 of 2014 established the State Tuition Assistance Program (STAP) This presentation provided courtesy of the Career Counselors of the Michigan Army National Guard

How much does MING-STAP pay? MING-STAP pays up to $600 per semester hour and $6,000 per fiscal year. MING-STAP can also be applied to fees that are required for enrollment (i.e. lab fees), which are not deducted from the $6000 per fiscal year tuition cap. MING-STAP does not cover: Books, room and board, parking permits or late fees. What degrees may I earn using MING-STAP? Associate, Baccalaureate, Masters or First Professional Degree. Up to $86,400 lifetime cap for an Undergraduate Degree and up to $25,200 lifetime cap for a Graduate Degree, Certificate or Training. *Note: Vocational school, technical school, or trade school located in this state are eligible for MING-STAP

Yeah, but who IS eligible? All Michigan National Guard traditional and AGR Soldiers /Airmen in an active drilling status are eligible. Mobilized or deployed Army National Guard Soldiers are eligible. All ranks are eligible to apply! Must be in good standing with no AWOL or Adverse Action (UCMJ). Must maintain a cumulative 2.0 GPA. PBED must be before the first day of class. ETS must be after the last day of class. Yeah, but who IS eligible?

Soldiers who accrued four or more periods of unexcused absences or unsatisfactory periods in the previous twelve months are not eligible for MING-STAP. Soldiers pursuing a lateral degree are not eligible for MING-STAP. Example: A second Bachelors Degree, or a second Associates degree. So Who Is Not Eligible? NOTE: Soldiers who do not obtain 2.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale, will be put on probation and if the next semester you do not get your GPA back to 2.0 MING-STAP will be suspended until GPA is back up.

Yes! As long as FTA does not cover 100% of tuition & fees, MING-STAP can be used to cover remaining tuition and/or eligible fees. For example: If the class tuition is $300 per credit hour and your FTA pays $250 per credit hour, then MING-STAP can pay the remaining $50 per credit hour. Can I use MING-STAP with FTA together?

Affirmative! As an ROTC Cadet, if you contracted with the Michigan National Guard under the Simultaneous Membership Program (SMP); then you are eligible to apply for the MING-STAP. Strategy: Any ROTC, Dedicated National Guard Guard (DEDNG) or Guaranteed Reserve Forces Duty (GRFD) scholarships that were applied against your tuition will be calculated first before MING-STAP can reimburse the remaining tuition and fee costs. If those scholarships were applied to Room and Board costs and NOT to tuition, then MING-STAP may reimburse a larger tuition amount. I am an ROTC Cadet & contracted as an SMP. Can I use MING-STAP?

As a state funded program, MING-STAP can only be used at eligible educational institutions as defined by the Michigan Legislature PA 259 of 2014. “Eligible educational institution” means an on line, public or private college, university, vocational school, technical school, or trade school located IN the state of Michigan. If the school is not listed on MING-STAP website then the school needs to sign MOU. Contact your BDE retention rep to make this happen. So at which schools can I use MING-STAP?

Depends; Michigan Army National Guard Soldiers do not need their Commander’s signature on the application. This is because verification of “Good Standing” with the unit will be checked through SIDPERS. Members of the Michigan Air National Guard do require their Commander’s signature to verify “good standing” with their unit. Does my Commander need to sign anything?

When applications are due: Applications for MING-STAP may be submitted up to 60 days prior to the class start date and must be submitted no later than 14 days after the class start date. Can I still receive MING-STAP if I’m receiving a Pell Grant? Yes, since a Pell Grant can be used to assist with other education related expenses such as books, supplies and other course related materials. Can MING-STAP be used to help pay for books? No, MING-STAP does not reimburse the cost of books or study materials Is there anything else I should know?

Check On Learning Can you answer the following questions?:

Question Answer Up to $600 per semester hour Up to $6,000 per fiscal year How much does MING-STAP pay? How do I apply? Go to https://mingstapapp.state.mi.us/ Click on Student Portal to begin No more than 60 days prior to class start date No later than 14 days after class start date When are applications due? Can MING-STAP be used to pay for books? No! Associate – Baccalaureate – Masters or First Professional and Certificate! ALSO … Vocational, Technical and Trade school What degrees and skill training may I earn using MING-STAP? A lifetime cap of $86,400 for an Undergraduate degree. A lifetime cap of $25,200 for a Graduate degree, Certificates or flight training. How much will MING-STAP pay for? Can I use MING-STAP for a second degree? No, Soldiers pursuing a lateral degree are not eligible for MING-STAP.

Contact your Unit Full time Admin NCO or Unit Career Counselor QUESTIONS Contact your Unit Full time Admin NCO or Unit Career Counselor

So How do I sign UP!? Begin by going to: https://mingstapapp.state.mi.us/

This is the main screen for the program. Please click on Student Portal.

You are considered a Current STAP Member because you used the old program where the check was sent to you. Please click the green icon to continue.

Please enter your email and password that you used for the old program Please enter your email and password that you used for the old program. Your credentials were transferred for you. You may be asked to update some information in your profile. If so, please enter this information and scroll to the bottom and hit update.

Your Member Dashboard will look very similar to the old program Your Member Dashboard will look very similar to the old program. Please click Proceed with Application.

Please click on Start New Application because this will be your first application in the new system.

This is just a warning that, if you have an incomplete application in the system and you continue, your other one will be deleted. Please click OK as you should not have a previous application in the system.

Here you are just verifying information that is in your profile Here you are just verifying information that is in your profile. It can be updated by going into your profile or here. If you do it here the information in your profile will be updated.

The last thing to do on this screen is to select the academic year you are applying for.

This example is for someone who is attending multiple colleges for the academic year so it is giving them a message telling them to split the money between the two schools.

You will see both schools at the bottom of the page You will see both schools at the bottom of the page. You can enter 100% for one of the schools and the other one will be dropped off the next screen. Click Save Percentage Split once you are done.

Another option you have is to split it 50/50 but it can be any combination that totals 100%. Once you are done, please Save Percentage Split and hit next.

Please take a moment to read the guidelines as they will be helpful in determining which semester you want to assign money.

Because this example is for two schools the money is split 50/50 like we previously indicated. As you can see Ferris has $3000 and Western has $3000. We now need to know how much of the $3000 you want applied to each term. If you are only attending one school you will only have to complete this step once. However, this is for two schools so each school must be completed. Again it can be any combination totaling 100%. You will see the equivalent dollar amount associated with each % you entered.

Once you have successfully entered all your information, please click Save Percentage Split and hit next.

This is just a final review before submission This is just a final review before submission. If you click reset you will start completely over because the calculations are based on this information and will need to be reset. However, you can make changes using the edit feature in the other areas without starting over.

This is the rest of the screen for your review. If all is good, click Submit Application. Otherwise, you can click reset from here too.

Your application has been successfully submitted and you are sent to this page. You may now go to your dashboard or logout. If you would like to see the status of your application go to your dashboard and click on View Account Activity.

Click View Account Activity

Select your academic year and click display account activity

You will see the progression of your application through the approval process. Once it is 100% complete you can click on Show Payment Breakdown and see the details of what was submitted.

Contact your Unit Full time Admin NCO or Unit Career Counselor QUESTIONS Contact your Unit Full time Admin NCO or Unit Career Counselor

Or contact the State Operations office: Point of Contact: Department of Military and Veterans Affairs (DMVA) State Operations – Budget Office 3423 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd Lansing, MI 48906 Phone: 517-481-7640 Fax: 517-481-7644 Email: MINGSTAP@michigan.gov Website: http://www.michigan.gov/dmva