Michigan
Worth it for in-state families under the $125K income-and-assets line, who get full tuition plus mandatory fees guaranteed. For everyone else — especially out-of-state and international applicants — there is no automatic merit table to optimize toward.
Michigan does not run a stats-based merit ladder. Every institutional award here is eligibility-gated or need-aware, not triggered by your GPA or test score. The one firm, computable dollar commitment is the Go Blue Guarantee: full undergraduate tuition plus mandatory fees for Michigan residents whose family income is at or below $125,000 AND family assets are at or below $125,000 — renewable up to four years (eight terms), excluding housing, meals, and books. Out-of-state applicants facing the $84,164 cost of attendance should treat any expectation of an automatic OOS award as fiction; OFA's named scholarships (Tappan, Fairfax, Presidential, HAIL) are need-aware and require FAFSA plus CSS Profile by the priority deadline (March 1 for EA/RD, Nov 15 for ED), with the My Scholarship Profile completed by Feb 15. Outside scholarships are handled loan-first, which is protective: they cut loans and Work-Study before touching grant aid. The real catch is the pipeline carve-out — accepting Detroit Promise, Wade McCree, or Detroit Compact reduces eligibility for the U-M Grant and the Fairfax, Tappan, Presidential, HAIL, and Wolverine Pathways scholarships.