Michigan § 388.1860 - Paying for College in Michigan; online information resource for grades 9 through 12 students and families; requirements; link on website.

(1) The department of lifelong education, advancement, and potential shall work with student and postsecondary education groups, including the Michigan College Access Network, the Michigan Association of School Counselors, the Michigan Association of State Universities, the Michigan Community College Association, and the Michigan Independent Colleges and Universities, to provide and update an online informational resource for students in grades 9 through 12 and prospective and current students and families. The online informational resource must be a website or a portion of an existing website titled "Paying for College in Michigan" and designed and maintained by the department of lifelong education, advancement, and potential that, to the extent practicable, contains information, including, but not limited to, all of the following:

(a) A list of public and private community support centers, student debt clinics, and other organizations and their contact information submitted by Michigan College Access Network that provides free information and services for student loan borrowers to help educate them about repayment options and to help them access student loan programs or benefits for which they may be eligible.

(b) Links to state and federal financial aid programs, including FAFSA and College Scorecard.

(c) Links to each promise zone website and the financial aid website to each community college, public university, and independent college and university in this state.

(d) Benefits of federal student loans that may no longer be available if a borrower refinances a loan.

(e) Direct links to net price calculators for each community college receiving an appropriation in section 201 and each public university receiving an appropriation in section 236.

(f) Definitions that clearly delineate the differences between scholarships, grants, and loans.

(g) A description of net price calculators and how to use them to create a personalized estimate of a student's out-of-pocket cost for the coming year based on basic family and financial information and likely financial aid eligibility.

(h) Information on the fundamentals of borrowing and repayment, including, but not limited to, all of the following:

(i) A link to the federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program or other state or federal loan forgiveness programs.

(ii) Deciding how much to borrow.

(iii) Creating a plan for borrowing and repayment.

(iv) Estimating how much borrowing is needed for a given school year.

(v) Factors that affect total student loan costs.

(vi) Tips for graduating with less student loan debt.

(vii) A loan payment calculator or a link to a loan payment calculator that can be used for different types of loans.

(viii) Links to federal student loan entrance and exit counseling services and the FACT tool.

(ix) Student loan debt relief scams.

(i) Loan amortization information.

(2) A public university receiving an appropriation in section 236 shall place a prominent link to the website created under this section on its website homepage.

(3) Independent colleges and universities in this state are encouraged to place a link to the website created under this section on their website homepages.

(4) By November 1 of each year, the department of lifelong education, advancement, and potential shall inform each high school in this state about the website described in this section and encourage them to distribute the information to all students in grades 9 through 12.

(5) The department shall audit the website not less than once every 6 months to ensure links continue to be accurate, active, and up-to-date for students and families.