Minnesota Scholarships & Grants (2027–2028): North Star Promise, State Grant & Alternative Application Deadlines

How Minnesota State Aid Actually Works

Minnesota state aid has two front doors, and a family walks through exactly one of them. There is no separate Minnesota scholarship portal for FAFSA filers. The college you enroll at reads your application, checks your eligibility, and puts the State Grant and North Star Promise straight into the financial aid offer.

What changed in 2026, and why older handouts are wrong

Minnesota did not pass a reform act. The state ran short of money and used its existing authority to ration aid. If a handout is from before February 2026, assume these points are wrong on it:

• North Star Promise got a real deadline. For 2026-27, OHE set a mandatory priority deadline of June 1, 2026, and funded requests in the order received until money ran out. 2027-28 is undecided. (OHE memo, January 21, 2026)
• The student’s income now counts. Family AGI for a dependent student is now the student’s AGI plus the parents’.
• “Tuition” got narrower. North Star Promise now covers only the base resident undergraduate tuition rate. Tuition differentials and surcharges, such as higher rates for some majors, are no longer covered.
• State Grant awards were cut for 2026-27. OHE raised the share families are expected to contribute, to keep spending inside the budget. (OHE projections, February 2026)
• North Star Promise Plus is not being paid. North Star Promise students with Pell received an extra 15 percent of their Pell Grant in 2024-25. OHE paid no match in 2025-26, set the 2026-27 match at zero (2026-27 NSP manual), and state law authorizes the match only through 2026-27.
• The Dream Act application was renamed. It is now the Minnesota Alternative State Financial Aid Application. Same eligibility, new name.

What did not change: the $80,000 line itself. Bills in the 2026 session to raise it to $100,000, or to remove it for state and Tribal colleges, got hearings and did not pass. The program remains in law.

The $80,000 Line: Who Gets the North Star Promise

How the $80,000 is measured

• It is AGI, not salary. AGI is line 11 of the federal Form 1040, after things like pre-tax retirement contributions are taken out. A family “making $85,000” can have an AGI under $80,000.
• It is two years back. The 2027-28 FAFSA uses the 2025 tax year.
• Divorced or separated parents: only the parent who provides more financial support files, and that parent’s AGI (plus a current spouse’s) is what counts.
• Non-filers: a family with income too low to file taxes is treated as $0 AGI.
• Below means below. $79,999 qualifies. $80,000 does not.

What North Star Promise pays, and what it does not

It is a last-dollar award: the college adds up every grant, scholarship, waiver, and stipend first, and North Star Promise covers whatever base tuition and mandatory fees are left. Loans and work study are not counted against it.

Time limit: up to four full-time semesters for a two-year degree and eight for a four-year degree, or the equivalent, where full time means 15 credits. No yearly or lifetime dollar cap. Source: OHE North Star Promise FAQs.

The need-based layer underneath: the Minnesota State Grant

The State Grant is Minnesota’s oldest and largest program, and it works at private colleges and career schools too. Instead of an income line, it runs a formula the state calls shared responsibility:

1. Start with a state budget for the student: tuition and fees (up to a cap) plus a living allowance.
2. The student is assigned a fixed share of that budget, covered by savings, work, loans, or other aid.
3. The family is assigned a share based on the FAFSA.
4. Pell and the State Grant together fill what is left. More Pell means less State Grant, dollar for dollar.

The 2026-27 formula, as rationed (final parameters, OHE memo dated June 1, 2026; 2027-28 not yet published)

In plain English: for 2026-27, Minnesota roughly doubled what it expects a dependent student’s family to pay before the State Grant starts, and raised the student’s own share. Families with a FAFSA parent contribution near zero felt it least. Middle-income families felt it most. Source: OHE 2026-27 State Grant award parameters. The minimum award is $100 a year.

Full Time Means 15 Credits (Minnesota’s Most Expensive Fine Print)

For federal Pell, full time is 12 credits. For the Minnesota State Grant, full time is 15. Families plan around 12, and that is where the money goes missing.

At a Minnesota public college with family AGI under $80,000, North Star Promise backfills tuition when the State Grant shrinks. That sounds like a rescue, and it partly is, but it means the loss lands on the money that would have gone toward housing, food, and books, which North Star Promise never pays. At a private college there is no backfill at all.

Two more 15-credit effects. The State Grant stops after 120 credits (eight full-time semesters) of grants received, and North Star Promise counts its four- and eight-semester limits in 15-credit semesters too. A student who takes 12 credits a term needs a fifth year to finish a 120-credit degree, and that fifth year is where state aid runs out.

Major Minnesota Programs

Every program here starts with the FAFSA or the Alternative Application. Dollar figures carry the aid year they come from, because Minnesota has not published 2027-28 amounts yet.

Direct Admissions and PSEO: Two Free Doors Most Families Walk Past

Neither of these is financial aid, and both save real money. One gets a senior admitted before applying. The other gets a junior or senior free college credit.

Direct Admissions Minnesota: the yes that arrives by email

At participating high schools, seniors who are on track to graduate get a personalized survey early in senior year listing colleges that have already admitted them. For 2026-27, the program’s fifth year, more than 320 high schools take part, and OHE’s list shows 55 colleges: Minnesota State colleges and universities, the University of Minnesota’s Crookston, Duluth, Morris, and Rochester campuses, Tribal Colleges, and 16 private colleges including St. Thomas, Gustavus, Bethel, Augsburg, Hamline, St. Catherine, and Saint John’s and Saint Benedict. Participating colleges waive the application fee. The University of Minnesota Twin Cities does not take part. (OHE Direct Admissions · participating colleges)

Your move: ask the counselor two questions. Does our high school take part in Direct Admissions? And did my student’s survey come in, and was it answered? The Class of 2027 survey went out in early fall 2026.

PSEO: free college credit in high school

Postsecondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) lets 11th and 12th graders take college courses at no charge for tuition, fees, or textbooks, for both high school and college credit. Some 10th graders can take career and technical courses. Students meet the college’s admission standard for PSEO; at Minnesota State, that is generally the upper third of the class for juniors and the upper half for seniors, or an equivalent test result. Families at or below the poverty level can get mileage help. (OHE PSEO page · Minn. Stat. 124D.09)

• The deadline is a notice to your school district, not just the college: May 30 for fall courses and October 30 for spring courses. For a senior wanting spring 2027 courses, that notice is due October 30, 2026. For a junior wanting courses in senior fall, May 30, 2027.
• Each college also sets its own PSEO application deadline. Apply to the college as well.
• Credits earned in PSEO count toward the college degree, which can mean fewer paid semesters later.

Minnesota State Aid Deadlines

Minnesota’s state deadline is set term by term in law. The college and practical deadlines all come earlier.

The Class of 2027 milestone chain

Summer is its own term with its own 30-day deadline. A student taking summer 2028 classes is still on the 2027-28 application. Verify current dates on OHE’s North Star Promise page and your college’s financial aid site before relying on them.

How Minnesota Aid Interacts With Colleges

North Star Promise is applied last, so it pays only what everything else leaves behind. That one fact explains most confusing Minnesota aid offers.

• A $0 North Star Promise line is usually good news. It means Pell, the State Grant, and the college already covered tuition. Eligible and $0 is common for Pell students.
• Outside scholarships can be a wash at a public college. If tuition is the only unpaid charge, a new $1,000 outside scholarship can reduce North Star Promise by $1,000. Ask the aid office whether the college will apply it to housing instead.
• At a private college, North Star Promise does not exist. The State Grant still applies, and the college’s own aid does the rest.

The CRP move: line the offers up side by side, and look at the cost after grants, not the tuition line. Our guide to comparing aid offers walks through it, and the CRP Scholarship Search Tool shows what each college adds.

Common Ways Minnesota Aid Gets Lost

These are process problems, not student failures, and every one of them is fixable if it is caught early.

Who Benefits Most (Reality Check)

Low-income families

The strongest position in Minnesota. Pell plus the State Grant can cover most or all of tuition at a public college, with North Star Promise guaranteeing the rest. The real gap is housing, food, and books. That is where to focus: living at home, the college’s own need-based grants, and work study. And watch the credit load, because the 15-credit rule hits Pell students hardest.

Middle-income families

The $80,000 line is the whole story here. Under it, public tuition is covered. At it or over, North Star Promise pays nothing, and with the 2026-27 cuts the State Grant reaches fewer middle-income families than before. File anyway, because college aid needs the FAFSA. Then compare: a private college with an income-based tuition guarantee can cost less than a public one for a family at $85,000. See the college finding below.

High-achieving students

Minnesota pays the state’s money on need, not grades, so a strong transcript earns nothing extra from the state. The merit money is at the colleges, and it is decided at admission. Apply by each college’s earliest scholarship date, which is usually November 1 or earlier.

Students who test poorly

Minnesota is about as friendly as a state gets. Neither North Star Promise nor the State Grant looks at a test score or a GPA. The University of Minnesota Twin Cities does not require the ACT or SAT for fall 2027 applicants, and not submitting one does not limit scholarship consideration.

Adult and returning students

This one is for the parents reading. North Star Promise has no age limit, works with as little as one credit, and is open to returning students, including those who already have an associate degree but not a bachelor’s. Evening and part-time classes count. Plenty of first-generation parents could start a credential alongside their student. The Postsecondary Child Care Grant is built for students who are parents.

First-gen families

Same eligibility, more ways to lose it to a missed step. Minnesota state aid is mostly process: the filing date, the income total, the credit load, the portal. If you feel behind, you are not. You need a checklist. Start with our First-Gen Parent Guide and the grade-level checklists.

Colleges That Stack Best With Minnesota Aid

North Star Promise and the State Grant follow the same rules at every eligible college. So the question that actually moves your bill is which college adds the most on top, for your family’s income and your student’s record. Below are the five Minnesota colleges currently in the CRP database. Each link goes to our full guide for that college, with every verified award, tier, and deadline.

Full tuition guaranteed by family income

• Macalester College (St. Paul): Tuition Promise for admitted domestic students by family income, renewed each year with no GPA requirement. Merit scholarships are considered automatically with the admission application. Aid forms due November 9 (Early Decision I and Early Action), January 8 (Early Decision II), and January 22 (Regular Decision).
• St. Olaf College (Northfield): published minimum grants by income band, with full tuition at the bottom band. Also six tiers of automatic academic merit, decided from the application with no published GPA or test cutoffs. CSS Profile and FAFSA due November 1 (Early Decision I and Early Action) or January 15 (Early Decision II and Regular Decision).

Automatic merit for every first-year admit

• University of St. Thomas (St. Paul): every first-time, first-year student receives a merit scholarship, set at admission with no separate application and no published GPA or test tiers. The high school GPA carries the most weight, and a later test score will not raise it. Several full-tuition competitive programs have deadlines of January 8, 2027 and February 8, 2027.

The flagship, where North Star Promise applies

• University of Minnesota Twin Cities (Minneapolis): the only college on this list where North Star Promise pays. Freshman merit scholarships come from a holistic review of the admission application, with no published GPA or test minimums, and no test score is required for fall 2027. Early Action I is November 1 (the application fee is waived until then), Early Action II December 1, Regular January 1. Several need-based scholarships want the FAFSA by March 1. The University also runs its own income-based programs for Minnesota residents, the U Promise Scholarship and the Promise Plus Free Tuition Program, which are not yet in our database; see the University’s Promise Plus page and U Promise page for current terms. The state aid deadline for fall 2027 at the Twin Cities is October 6, 2027.

A different model entirely: need-based aid, almost no merit

• Carleton College (Northfield): aid is based on demonstrated financial need. Named scholarships are assigned from the need-based grant, so there is nothing separate to apply for. A QuestBridge partner. Aid documents due November 15 (Fall Early Decision) or January 15 (Winter Early Decision and Regular Decision).

Not yet in our database. Most of Minnesota’s colleges are not verified in our system yet, so we are not going to publish numbers for them. North Star Promise applies at every public college below, and the State Grant applies at all of them. Check each college’s own scholarship page directly. Minnesota State universities: Minnesota State University, Mankato, St. Cloud State, Winona State, Minnesota State University Moorhead, Bemidji State, Southwest Minnesota State, and Metropolitan State. Other University of Minnesota campuses: Duluth, Morris, Crookston, and Rochester. Private colleges: Gustavus Adolphus, Saint John’s University and the College of Saint Benedict, Bethel, Augsburg, Hamline, St. Catherine, The College of St. Scholastica, Concordia College (Moorhead), Concordia University, St. Paul, Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota, and Bethany Lutheran. Also the 26 Minnesota State community and technical colleges and the four Tribal Colleges. We would rather leave them without numbers than publish a guess.

The two-year and transfer pathway

For a family under $80,000, a Minnesota State community or technical college is the closest thing the state has to free: North Star Promise covers what Pell and the State Grant leave of a lower tuition bill, and living at home takes housing off the table. Then transfer. Minnesota State’s Transfer Pathways associate degrees guarantee junior status and count all 60 credits toward the related bachelor’s degree at a Minnesota State university, once the student is admitted. Admission to a specific major is not guaranteed. (Minnesota State Transfer Pathways)

Three cautions. North Star Promise allows four full-time semesters for a two-year degree and eight for a four-year degree, and OHE does not spell out how the two limits combine for a student who transfers; ask the four-year college’s aid office before counting on four more years. The State Grant stops at 120 credits of grants received, at any mix of schools. And the 15-credit rule applies at the community college too.

Tip: confirm your Minnesota programs here, then open each college’s scholarship page to see what the school adds. You can compare schools side by side in the CRP Scholarship Search Tool or look up your student’s numbers in the scholarships-by-GPA guide.

Smaller Minnesota Programs Worth Checking

These do not apply to everyone, but when one applies to your family it is usually significant.

Minnesota State Aid FAQs

What is the income limit for the Minnesota North Star Promise?

Family adjusted gross income (AGI) must be below $80,000, and there is no partial award above that line. Starting with 2026-27, a dependent student’s own AGI is added to the parents’ AGI, including a stepparent if one is married to the parent who files. The FAFSA uses tax information from two years back, so a student starting college in fall 2027 is measured on the 2025 federal tax return. Assets and family size are not considered, and if income has dropped since that tax year, the college financial aid office can be asked to use more current income.

What is the North Star Promise deadline for 2027-28?

As of October 28, 2026, the Minnesota Office of Higher Education has not set one. For 2026-27 it imposed a mandatory priority deadline of June 1, 2026, funding requests in the order the FAFSA was first submitted until money ran out, and its September 2026 fact sheet says no decision has been made for 2027-28. The FAFSA and the Minnesota Alternative State Financial Aid Application for 2027-28 opened October 1, 2026. File before December 1, 2026 so that no cutoff the state could plausibly announce lands ahead of you.

Does North Star Promise cover housing?

No. North Star Promise pays only base tuition and the mandatory fees charged to all students, after every other grant and scholarship has been applied. It does not pay for housing, meals, books, transportation, program-specific fees, or tuition differentials and surcharges, even when living on campus is required. The Minnesota State Grant can reach living costs, because its formula includes a living and miscellaneous expense allowance.

How much is the Minnesota State Grant?

It depends on the family’s FAFSA results, the college’s price, and the number of credits. The minimum award is $100 a year, and the Office of Higher Education reports that in 2023-24 the average award ran from about $1,415 at a public two-year college to $6,439 at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities or a private four-year college, with an overall average of about $3,406. For 2026-27 the state reduced awards because of a projected shortfall, and 2027-28 award rules have not been published. The college calculates the grant and lists it in the financial aid offer.

Can you get both North Star Promise and the Minnesota State Grant?

Yes. Both come from the same FAFSA or state application, and many students at public colleges receive both. The State Grant is applied first, and North Star Promise then covers whatever base tuition and mandatory fees are still left. That is why a student can be eligible for North Star Promise and still see $0 for it: other grants already covered tuition.

Does North Star Promise work at private colleges in Minnesota?

No. North Star Promise pays only at Minnesota State colleges and universities, all University of Minnesota campuses, and Minnesota’s four Tribal Colleges. The Minnesota State Grant does work at eligible private colleges in Minnesota. Several private colleges run their own tuition guarantees by family income, so compare actual aid offers before ruling a private college out.

Does Minnesota require an ACT score or GPA for state financial aid?

No. North Star Promise and the Minnesota State Grant have no test score or high school GPA requirement. Eligibility runs on Minnesota residency, the FAFSA or state application, family finances, and enrollment. Once in college, students must meet their school’s Satisfactory Academic Progress standards to keep receiving aid.

Can you lose North Star Promise?

Yes. It is recalculated every term and requires a new FAFSA or state application every year, so a rise in family AGI to $80,000 or more ends eligibility for that year. It also stops if the student falls short of the school’s Satisfactory Academic Progress standards, earns a bachelor’s degree, or uses up the limit of four full-time semesters for a two-year degree or eight for a four-year degree, where full time means 15 credits. Funds already received do not have to be repaid.