What You'll Actually Pay
Price after grants
$1,043 to $26,517 a year for in-state students, depending on income.
College Scorecard 2024 estimate · in-state rates
See the price at your income ↑Sticker price
Full cost before aid: $34,654 a year in-state. Average need-based aid package: $39,324.Aid and debt
32.9%
receive need-based grants
$29,244
average debt at graduation
4,300
students got merit aid
about 12% of undergraduates
$6,240
average merit award
Getting In
Key dates
Test scores
SAT, middle 50% of those who submitted: 1370–1530 · 55% of the class submitted
ACT, middle 50% of those who submitted: 32–34 · 18% of the class submitted
What they value
- Very important
- Course rigor (AP/IB)
- GPA
- Important
- SAT/ACT scores
- Personal essay
- Recommendations
- Character
- First-gen status
- Considered
- Extracurriculars
- Special talent
- Where you're from
- In-state residency
- Volunteer work
- Work experience
- Demonstrated interest
- Not considered
- Class rank
- Legacy status
What this means for you
Michigan rates course rigor as Very Important, and your essay, your recommendations, and your first-gen status as Important.
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Rigor means AP, IB, and dual enrollment carry real weight — make sure your mix of AP or IB courses is strong. A strong essay can differentiate an otherwise average application. Recommendations matter here too — a recommender who knows you well helps. And being first-generation can help your application here.
Michigan rates demonstrated interest 'Considered' — it can tip a close decision, without being decisive.
Source: Common Data Set 2025–26, Section C7 (admissions factors)
Michigan just showed you what it values in an application. Use that to write a Why-Michigan essay that's actually about you — not a template.
Get sourced starting points for your essayStudent Life
51.2% of Michigan classes have fewer than 20 students.
51.2%
under 20 students
30.1%
20 to 49
18.7%
50 or more
Every class section counts, labs and seminars included; first-year courses tend to be larger. Michigan CDS 2025–26, I-3.
15:1
student:faculty ratio
Campus life
26%
live on campus
11%
of men in fraternities
16%
of women in sororities
Who attends
- White44.8%
- Asian18.4%
- Hispanic12.6%
- Multiracial5.9%
- Black5.7%
- Unknown / other4.8%
Enrolled undergraduates; international students are counted separately and not included. Michigan CDS 2025–26, B2.
Popular majors
Will They Graduate?
82.3% of Michigan students graduate in 4 years.
82.3%
finish in 4 years
Entered fall 2019
93.2%
finish in 6 years
Entered fall 2019
97.5%
return after first year
Finishing late means paying for extra semesters, so the 4-year rate is the one that shows the cost.
Students with Pell Grants
89% finish in 6 years, against 93.2% of all students.
A 4.2-point gap: Pell Grant students finish less often than students overall.
City & Culture
Beyond the data — what it's actually like to spend four years in Ann Arbor.
Ann Arbor is the classic best-of-both-worlds college town: a genuinely walkable downtown of bookstores, restaurants, and music venues that sits right against campus, wrapped in parks and river trails.
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It's small enough that students run into each other constantly and big enough to have a real arts and food scene of its own. It suits students who want campus and town to feel like one place; Detroit is 45 minutes away when you want a major city, and Metro Airport is close enough to make going home easy.
The City
Mid-size city
Ann Arbor, MI
Best For
Notable alumni
Notable Alumni
Larry Page
Co-founded Google after studying computer engineering at Michigan, and later led Alphabet as CEO.
Gerald Ford
The 38th President of the United States, who played center on Michigan's back-to-back national championship football teams.
Lucy Liu
Actor and director known for Charlie's Angels, Kill Bill, and Elementary, who studied Asian languages and cultures at Michigan.
Sanjay Gupta
Practicing neurosurgeon and CNN's chief medical correspondent, who earned both his undergraduate degree and his MD at Michigan.
Valerie Jarrett
Served as Senior Advisor to President Obama for all eight years of his administration, and now leads the Obama Foundation.
Tom Brady
Won seven Super Bowls across a 23-season NFL career after starting at quarterback for Michigan.
Alumni selected for name recognition and range of fields. Not from the Common Data Set.
Traditions
Traditions
Saturdays at the Big House
Michigan Stadium holds over 107,000 people, making it the largest stadium in the country, and home games regularly fill it. The whole town reorients around it — downtown restaurants open early and the campus walk to the stadium becomes its own event.
The Game
The season-ending football game against Ohio State is one of the oldest and most intense rivalries in American sports, dating to 1897. Rivalry week brings pep rallies, a campus-wide ban on saying the other school's name, and painted block M's everywhere.
Festifall
At the start of fall term, hundreds of student organizations set up tables across the Diag and the surrounding streets to recruit new members. With well over a thousand student groups on campus, it's how most first-years find their people.
Weekend escapes from Ann Arbor
Weekend Escapes
Within driving distance from Ann Arbor
Detroit
45 minutesThe Detroit Institute of Arts, Eastern Market, and four professional sports teams, all a short drive or commuter ride away.
Traverse City & Sleeping Bear Dunes
4 hoursLake Michigan beaches, towering dunes, and cherry orchards — the trip northern Michigan is famous for.
Chicago
4 hoursA full big-city weekend by car or Amtrak, and a common destination for internships and job interviews too.
Getting there and game days
Getting There & Game Days
Nearest airport
Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County (DTW)
30 minutes from campus
Flies international — you can start a trip abroad from here.
Pro sports nearby
- Detroit Lions NFL
- Detroit Tigers MLB
- Detroit Pistons NBA
- Detroit Red Wings NHL
Internships and jobs nearby
Career Proximity
Michigan sits at the center of the country's automotive and mobility industry, with Detroit 45 minutes away and a growing tech presence in Ann Arbor itself.
Top Industries Nearby
Major Employers
- Ford Motor Company
- General Motors
- Michigan Medicine
- Rocket Companies
Detroit — about 45 minutes from campus
Who thrives here
Who Thrives Here
Michigan offers the scale of a 35,000-student flagship with a campus culture built to match — 107,000 people fill the football stadium on home Saturdays, and over a thousand student organizations recruit at once each fall. The deciding factor is usually cost: about $19K in tuition in-state versus $67K out-of-state, and only 26% of undergraduates live on campus.