Grants

The Federal Pell Grant is a grant for undergraduate students with financial need that does not have to be repaid unless a student withdraws from courses or owes a refund.

2024-25 Academic Year

View additional information regarding Federal Pell Grant from the U. S. Department of Education

2023-24 Academic Year

View additional information regarding Federal Pell Grant from the U. S. Department of Education

The Federal Supplemental Education Opportunity Grant (FSEOG) is a grant for undergraduate students with exceptional financial need.  Students who will receive Federal Pell Grant and have the most financial need will receive FSEOGs first.  The FSEOG does not need to be repaid unless a student withdraws from courses or owes a refund.  Funds are limited and awarded each year on a first-come, first-serve basis, as a result early completion of the FAFSA is recommended.

View additional information regarding FSEOG from the U. S. Department of Education.

The Saginaw Valley State University Opportunity Grant (SVOG) is a grant for undergraduate students with financial need. The SVOG does not need to be repaid unless a student withdraws from courses or owes a refund.

2024-2025 First Time in College Student Eligibility Requirements

Eligibility

Graduating high school seniors (2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, and 2020 first time in college students) who are enrolling in college for the first time in Fall 2024 or later. President’s, Saginaw Award for Excellence, Founder’s, and Dean’s Scholarship recipients are not eligible.

Terms

Awards range from $500-$6000, based on financial need and when combined with incoming academic scholarships (University and Valley Housing Scholarships). Students not receiving the University and Valley Housing scholarships are eligible if they meet the eligibility requirements for this award (President’s, Saginaw Award for Excellence, Founder’s, and Dean’s Scholarship recipients are not eligible).

• A student living on campus can receive up to $6,000
• A student living off-campus or with a parent can receive up to $5,000
• Cardinal Scholarship Recipients
  • Living On Campus: up to $500 plus Valley Housing Scholarship
  • Living Off-Campus/With Parent: up to $1,000
• University Scholarship Recipients
  • Living On Campus: up to $1,500 plus Valley Housing Scholarship
  • Living Off-Campus/With Parent: up to $2,000

• Enrolled for the first time Fall 2024 semester.
• Must complete and submit the 2024-2025 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
• This award is based on a financial need calculation (Cost of Attendance minus Student Aid Index minus any scholarships, grants, and other gift aid) received by SVSU and/or other off-campus organizations, companies, etc. The Student Aid Index (SAI) is determined by the results of the FAFSA. Beginning with the 2024-25 award year, the Student Aid Index (SAI) replaces the Expected Family Contribution (EFC). The Cost of Attendance is determined by SVSU (Published on the Scholarships and Financial Aid website). The award can be changed if your financial need changes after initial awarding. If your need is met by other grants, scholarships, and other gift aid (free money), then you will not be eligible for this grant.
• The award is renewable for up to three additional years. Student eligibility for this grant will cease at the end of the student’s fourth year. Students may not be eligible every year (based on financial need). A student must receive this grant in their first year to receive funds for additional years.
• For renewal, a student must maintain a 2.0 SVSU cumulative GPA. A student must have financial need (as determined above, and by completing and submitting a new FAFSA for each award year).
• For renewal, a student must maintain full-time enrollment. A student must meet the Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy requirements for Financial Aid.

How to Apply

• Admission to the university
• Must complete and submit the 2024-2025 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

Next Steps

Once a student has been admitted as a first-time college student for the upcoming Fall semester and completed their FASFA, it is then received and processed through SVSU’s Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid. The student will receive a Financial Aid Award Letter email notification. The award letter will list the type and amount of financial aid offered to the student. If eligible, their award letter will reflect the SVOG Grant amount.

The Saginaw Valley State University Opportunity Grant (SVOG) is a grant for undergraduate students with financial need. The SVOG does not need to be repaid unless a student withdraws from courses or owes a refund.

2023-2024 First Time in College Student Eligibility Requirements

Eligibility

Graduating high school senior (2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, and 2019 first time in college students).  President’s and Founder’s Scholarship recipients are not eligible.

Terms

Awards range from $500-$6000, based upon financial need and when combined with incoming academic scholarships (Dean’s, Cardinal, University, Faculty and Valley Housing Scholarships).

• A student living on campus can receive up to $6000

• A student living off-campus or with a parent can receive up to $5000
• Dean's Scholarship Recipients 
  • Living On Campus: up to $500
  • Living Off-Campus/With Parent: up to $1000
• Cardinal Scholarship Recipients
  • Living On Campus: up to $1500
  • Living Off-Campus/With Parent: up to $2000
• University Scholarship Recipients 
  • Living On Campus: up to $2500
  • Living Off-Campus/With Parent: up to $3000

• Enrolled for the first time Fall 2023 semester
• Must complete and submit the 2023-2024 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)
• This award is based on a financial need calculation (Cost of Attendance minus Expected Family Contribution minus any scholarships, grants and other gift aid) received by SVSU and/or other off-campus organizations, companies, etc.  Cost of Attendance is determined by SVSU (Published on the Scholarships and Financial Aid website).  Expected Family Contribution (EFC) is determined by the results of the FAFSA.  The award can be changed if your financial need changes after initial awarding.  If your need is met by other grants, scholarships and other gift aid (free money), then you will not be eligible for this grant.
• The award is renewable for up to three additional years. Student eligibility for this grant will cease at the end of the student’s fourth year.  Students may not be eligible every year (based on financial need).  A student must receive this grant in their first year to receive funds for additional years.
• For renewal, a student must maintain a 2.0 SVSU cumulative GPA.  A student must have financial need (as determined above, and by completing and submitting a new FAFSA for each award year).
• For renewal, a student must maintain full-time enrollment: students must complete at least 24 credit hours between the Fall and Winter semesters.

How to Apply

• Admission to the university
• Must complete and submit the 2023-2024 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

Next Steps

Once a student has been admitted as a first time in college student for the upcoming Fall semester and completed their FASFA, it is then received and processed through SVSU’s Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid. The student will receive a Financial Aid Award Letter email notification. The award letter will list the type and amount of financial aid offered to the student. If eligible, their award letter will reflect the SVOG Grant amount.

The Saginaw Valley State University Cardinal Commitment offers free tuition for eligible incoming first-time college freshmen who qualify.

2024-2025 First Time in College Student Eligibility Requirements

Eligibility

Students entering college for the first time in Fall 2024 who graduated from high school in 2020-2024. President’s Scholarship and Saginaw Award for Excellence recipients are not eligible.

Terms

• Enrolled for the first time Fall 2024 semester.
• Must complete and submit the 2024-2025 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
• Combined student and family adjusted gross income must be $70,000 per year or less and total assets must be less than $50,000 as reported on the FAFSA. Total assets exclude the value of the home you live in, retirement plans, and certain other assets identified in the FAFSA instructions.
• Students must meet the eligibility requirements to receive federal aid. More information can be found at www.studentaid.gov.
• The scholarship covers tuition. It does not cover other course or program-specific fees.
• This award is based on tuition minus any scholarships, grants, and other aid received from federal or state agencies, SVSU, and/or other off-campus organizations, companies, etc. The award can be changed if your tuition or other scholarships, grants, or aid change after initial awarding. If your tuition is fully covered by other grants, scholarships, and other gift aid (free money), then you will not receive additional funds for this award.
• Students must be full-time (minimum of 12 credits each Fall and Winter semester) to be eligible.
• Must be a Michigan resident.
• For students who met the criteria in the Fall and Winter semesters, courses taken during the immediately following Spring and Summer semesters are eligible under this award. Full-time status is not required in the Spring or Summer semesters.

Renewal

• The award is renewable for up to four additional years. Students may not be eligible every year. Student eligibility for this award will cease when they graduate or at the end of the student’s fifth consecutive year, whichever is sooner, as long as they continue to meet eligibility requirements.
• A student must receive this award in their first year.
• A student must receive this award in their first year to receive funds for additional years.
• A student must file a new FAFSA for each award year. Combined student and family adjusted gross income ($70,000 or less) and total assets (less than $50,000) must be within the eligible limit in each subsequent year.
• A student must maintain a 2.0 SVSU cumulative GPA and meet satisfactory academic progress.
• A student must maintain full-time enrollment: students must complete at least 24 credit hours between the Fall and Winter semesters.

How to Apply

• Admission to the university
• Must complete and submit the 2024-2025 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

Next Steps

Once a student has been admitted as a first-time college student for the upcoming Fall semester and completed their FASFA, it is then received and processed through SVSU’s Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid. The student will receive a Financial Aid Award Letter email notification. The award letter will list the type and amount of financial aid offered to the student. If eligible, their award letter will reflect the Cardinal Commitment amount.

2023-2024 First Time in College Student Eligibility Requirements

Eligibility

Student entering college for the first time in Fall 2023 that graduated from high school in 2019-2023. President’s Scholarship and Saginaw Award for Excellence recipients are not eligible.

Terms

• Enrolled for the first time Fall 2023 semester.
• Must complete and submit the 2023-2024 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
• Combined student and family adjusted gross income must be $70,000 per year or less and total assets must be less than $50,000 as reported on the FAFSA.  Total assets exclude the value of the home you live in, retirement plans and certain other assets identified in the FAFSA instructions.
• Student must meet the eligibility requirements to receive federal aid.  More information can be found at www.studentaid.gov.
• The scholarship covers undergraduate rate tuition.  The scholarship does not cover the differential cost between professional level undergraduate or graduate level courses that are charged at a higher rate and the standard undergraduate tuition rate.  It also does not cover other course or program specific fees.
• This award is based on undergraduate tuition minus any scholarships, grants and other aid received from federal or state agencies, SVSU and/or other off-campus organizations, companies, etc.  The award can be changed if your tuition or other scholarships, grants, or aid change after initial awarding.  If your tuition is fully covered by other grants, scholarships, and other gift aid (free money), then you will not receive additional funds for this award.
• Students must be full-time (minimum of 12 credits each Fall and Winter semester) to be eligible.
• Applies to undergraduate students only.
• Must be a Michigan resident.
• For students that met the criteria in the Fall and Winter semesters, courses taken during the immediately following Spring and Summer semesters are eligible under this award.  Full-time status is not required in the Spring or Summer semesters.

Renewal

• The award is renewable for up to three additional years. Students may not be eligible every year. Student eligibility for this award will cease at the end of the student’s fourth consecutive year. 
• A student must receive this award in their first year to receive funds for additional years.
• A student must file a new FAFSA for each award year. Combined student and family adjusted gross income ($70,000 or less) and total assets (less than $50,000) must be within the eligible limit in each subsequent year.
• A student must maintain a 2.0 SVSU cumulative GPA and meet satisfactory academic progress.
• A student must maintain full-time enrollment: students must complete at least 24 credit hours between the Fall and Winter semesters.

How to Apply

• Admission to the university
• Must complete and submit the 2023-2024 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

Next Steps

Once a student has been admitted as a first time in college student for the upcoming Fall semester and completed their FASFA, it is then received and processed through SVSU’s Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid. The student will receive a Financial Aid Award Letter email notification. The award letter will list the type and amount of financial aid offered to the student. If eligible, their award letter will reflect the Cardinal Commitment amount.

Saginaw Valley State University participates in the U.S. Department of Education’s TEACH Grant Program.  The TEACH Grant Program provides grants of up to $4,000 a year to students who are completing or plan to complete course work needed to begin a career in teaching.

As a condition for receiving a TEACH Grant, you must sign a TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve in which you agree (among other requirements) to teach

• in a high-need field
• at an elementary school, secondary school, or educational service agency that serves students from low-income families
• for at least four complete academic years within eight years after completing (or ceasing enrollment in) the course of study for which you received the grant.

IMPORTANT: If you do not complete your service obligation, all TEACH Grant funds you received will be converted to a Direct Unsubsidized Loan. You must then repay this loan to the U.S. Department of Education, with interest charged from the date the TEACH Grant was disbursed (paid to you or on your behalf).

View additional information regarding TEACH Grant from the U. S. Department of Education.

The TEACH Grant Program will provide up to $4,000* per year ($16,000 total for four-year undergraduate programs; $8,000 total for graduate studies) in grants to students who plan to teach full-time in high-need subject areas at schools that serve students from low-income families. Three-quarter-time students can receive up to $3,000 per year; half-time students can receive up to $2,000 per year; and less-than-half time students can receive up to $1,000 per year.

*IMPORTANT:  A TEACH Grant where the first disbursement is on or after October 1, 2021 and before October 1, 2022 requires a reduction of 5.7 percent from the award amount for which the student would otherwise have been eligible.

A TEACH Grant where the first disbursement is on or after October 1, 2022 and before October 1, 2023 requires a reduction of 5.7 percent from the award amount for which the student would otherwise have been eligible.

PLEASE NOTE:  Financial aid provided may not exceed the cost of attendance, therefore, receiving a TEACH Grant may reduce the recipient’s eligibility for other sources of financial aid

In exchange for receiving a TEACH Grant, you must agree to serve four years as a full-time teacher in which you are teaching a majority of your courses in a high-need field in a public or private elementary or secondary school that serves low-income students (see below for more information on high-need fields and schools serving low-income students). As a recipient of a TEACH Grant, you must teach at least four years within eight years of finishing your teacher preparation program for which you received a TEACH Grant. 

IMPORTANT: If you fail to complete this service obligation, all amounts of the TEACH Grants that you received will be converted to a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan. You must then repay this loan to the U.S. Department of Education. You will be charged interest from the date the grant(s) was disbursed. Once the grant has been converted to a loan, it cannot be converted back to a grant.

Service Agreement

Each year that you receive a TEACH Grant, you must sign a TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve and Promise to Pay (service agreement), online at the Department of Education Web site: www.studentaid.gov.  

The TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve specifies the conditions under which the grant will be awarded, the teaching service requirements, and includes an acknowledgment by you that you understand that if you do not meet the teaching service requirements you must repay the grant as a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan, with interest accrued from the date the grant funds were disbursed. Specifically, the TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve will provide that 

• For each TEACH Grant-eligible program for which you received TEACH Grant funds, you must serve as a full-time teacher for a total of at least four academic years within eight calendar years after you completed or withdrew from the academic program for which you received the TEACH Grant.
• You must perform the teaching service as a highly-qualified teacher at a low-income school. The term highly-qualified teacher is defined in section 9101(23) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 or in section 602(10) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
• Your teaching service must be in a high-need field in which you are teaching a majority of your courses.
• You must comply with any other requirements that the Department of Education determines to be necessary. If you do not complete the required teaching service obligation, TEACH Grant funds you received will be converted to a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan that you must repay, with interest charged from the date of each TEACH Grant disbursement. 
• If the grant is converted to a loan, it cannot be converted back to a grant.

High-Need Subject Areas

• Biology
• Chemistry
• Elementary Education
• English as a Second Language
• Health & Physical Education
• Integrated Science
• Language Arts
• Mathematics
• Music Education
• Physics
• Reading Specialist
• Social Studies
• Special Education & Special Education Administration
• Visual Arts Education
• World Languages (French & Spanish)
• Other identified teacher shortage areas as of the time you begin teaching in that field. These are teacher subject shortage areas (not geographic areas) that are listed in the Department of Education’s Annual Teacher Shortage Area Nationwide Listing at https://tsa.ed.gov/#/home/.

Schools Serving Low-Income Students

Schools serving low-income students include any elementary or secondary school that is listed in the Department of Education’s Annual Directory of Designated Low-Income Schools for Teacher Cancellation Benefits at https://studentaid.gov/app/tcli.action

Some students may have previously qualified for a program that is no longer an eligible program.

Undergraduate Programs

Graduate Programs

Master of Arts in Teaching (M.A.T.):

• Early Childhood Classroom Teaching 
• K-12 Literacy Specialist
• Special Education-Only available to teachers who are already endorsed in at least one area of special education. To include; Autism Spectrum Disorders, Cognitive Impairment, and/or Learning Disabilities endorsements.

 SVSU Programs NOT ELIGIBLE for the TEACH Grant

• Post baccalaureate Teacher Certification students
• Second undergraduate degree-seeking students
• Students pursuing an additional non-degree certification or endorsement to add to their current certificate

You must confirm within 120 days of completing or otherwise ceasing enrollment in your teacher preparation program that you are fulfilling (or plan to fulfill) the terms and conditions of your service agreement. You must document your teaching service, and your documentation must be certified by the chief administrative officer at the school where you teach and sent directly to the Department of Education annually by your personal due date that is set by the TEACH Grant servicer, FedLoan Servicing. If you have questions about your TEACH Grant annual certification date you can contact FedLoan Servicing at 1-800-699-2908.  You will need to notify in writing to the Office of Scholarship and Financial Aid if you cease enrollment in your teacher preparation program.