Big changes could be coming to state financial aid in Mississippi for prospective college students. The Post-Secondary Board has recommended a proposal, called the “Mississippi One Grant,” that would replace the state’s three existing grants with a single program that would award aid based on a formula of need and merit.  

How will you be affected? To help answer that, we used a data analysis by the Office of Student Financial Aid of the proposed grant to create the following calculator. 

Before filling this out, you’ll need to know two numbers: Your ACT score and your expected family contribution as determined by the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. If you don’t know your EFC, you can figure that out here. The family income brackets in our calculator are rough estimates and may not give you an accurate result. 

Lastly, bear in mind that students who currently receive financial aid will not be affected by this proposal.

These are estimates based on the board’s current proposal and could be subject to change depending on the Legislature this session. About 1,800 more students are expected to qualify for aid under the Mississippi One Grant compared to the new programs. But the average aid award is going to decrease — especially for the poorest students. 

The “Mississippi One Grant” will replace Mississippi’s three current financial aid programs:

• the Mississippi Tuition Assistance Grant (MTAG), which awards between $500 and $1,000 a year
• the Mississippi Eminent Scholars Grant (MESG), the state’s merit-based grant, and 
• the Higher Education Legislative Plan for Needy Students (HELP) program, the state’s only need-based grant that covers all four years of college. 

To learn more about the proposed grant and its implications for prospective college students, read our prior coverage below.

READ MORE: Black, low-income students will lose thousands in college aid under proposed program

READ MORE: ‘We are the future’: Students react to proposal that would slash thousands in financial aid

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