Sec. 260.
(1) The department of treasury 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 an online informational resource for students in grades 9 through 12 and prospective and current student loan borrowers. The online informational resource must be a website or a portion of an existing website designed and maintained by the department of treasury 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) Links to net price calculators for community colleges receiving an appropriation in section 201 and universities receiving an appropriation in section 236, if available.
(f) 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.
(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) Evaluating financial aid offers.
(vi) Factors that affect total student loan costs.
(vii) Tips for graduating with less student loan debt.
(viii) A loan payment calculator or a link to a loan payment calculator that can be used for different types of loans.
(ix) Links to federal student loan entrance and exit counseling services and the FACT tool.
(x) Student loan debt relief scams.
(g) A list of student loan providers in this state.
(2) A 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 treasury 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.
History: Add. 2020, Act 165, Eff. Oct. 1, 2020 ;-- Am. 2021, Act 86, Eff. Oct. 1, 2021