The University of Michigan more than doubled the financial aid it awarded this year to students through its tuition-free Go Blue Guarantee — one year after the university shut down its multimillion-dollar DEI initiative, officials say.

As a result, the Go Blue Guarantee awarded an estimated $55.97 million to 6,387 students on the Ann Arbor, Dearborn and Flint campuses in 2026 to cover tuition and fees.

That’s 2,601 more students – nearly 70% more – than the 3,786 students that the Go Blue Guarantee awarded $26.25 million to in 2025, according to data U-M provided to Bridge Michigan from the university’s Academic and Budgetary Affairs office.

Of the students in the program this year, 44.5% are white, 17.4% are Black, 12.4% are Asian, 5.6% are Hispanic and 20.2% are other or more than one race, according to the data.

U-M said a year ago it would shift its DEI investment into programs for students, such as financial aid, mental health services and academic success programs, when it shuttered the eight-year-old initiative to diversify the campus community and change its culture.

U-M’s DEI effort employed 163 full-time people, mostly staff members, who also spent 37% of their time on other responsibilities. The salaries cost about $15 million annually, officials said. After the program ended, U-M eliminated 14 positions, 36 other employees left the university in 2025 and the remaining staff went back to their units or another unit.

Since then, officials say, U-M has shifted the majority of the DEI funding into the Go Blue Guarantee, a program providing free tuition to students from families with incomes up to $125,000.

The millions of dollars invested in the DEI initiative, “was refocused on the students, and the expansion of the Go Blue Guarantee is clearly a result of that refocus,” said U-M Board Chair Mark Bernstein.

Since U-M launched the program in 2018 as part of the DEI initiative, U-M’s Go Blue Guarantee has provided $223.8 million to 25,796 students on the Ann Arbor, Dearborn and Flint campuses.

In 2025-26, tuition and fees for in-state undergraduate students at U-M Ann Arbor cost $18,346, according to the annual tuition and fees report from the Michigan Association of State Universities. At U-M Dearborn, $16,240. At U-M- Flint, $15,622.

Raising income limit

The Go Blue Guarantee began on the Ann Arbor campus, aimed at increasing the economic diversity of students by offering free tuition to those from families with incomes up to $65,000 and assets up to $50,000. The program expanded in 2022 to students on the Dearborn and Flint campuses. The family income threshold increased twice, with the program now open to students from families with income and assets up to $125,000.

In 2026, U-M began covering the full cost of attendance, including housing costs, for students enrolled in teacher preparation, nursing and social work. Still pending is the full cost of attendance for students from the school of music, theatre and dance.

A standard double room at U-M Ann Arbor costs $9,456, not including a meal plan.

Redirecting spending

Some of U-M’s DEI investment dollars have gone toward providing 24/7 AI tutors and a personal AI assistant for all campus members and improving advising, counseling and pre-professional guidance.

UM also said it will:

___

This story was originally published by Bridge Michigan and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.