News Photo by Crystal Nelson Alpena Community College Director of Admissions Mike Kollien works at his desk Thursday in Van Lare Hall.

ALPENA — Alpena Community College will participate in the Michigan Reconnect program, a scholarship program designed to help qualifying Michigan residents 25 and older earn a certificate or associate degree.

Applicants must be 25 years and older, have a high school diploma, have been a Michigan resident for at least one year, and have not yet completed a college degree to be eligible for the program.

The program is a last-dollar scholarship program, which means it would cover the cost of tuition for in-district students after federal student aid and other grants and scholarships have been applied.

Qualifying students who live in Alcona County, Montmorency County, and most of Presque Isle County are considered out-of-district students, and would still have to pay tuition at a reduced rate. They would receive the reduced rate after federal student aid and scholarships have been applied.

Alpena Community College Director of Admissions Mike Kollien said the goal of the program is to reconnect adults with college.

Kollien said the program is ideal for someone who graduated high school, took a couple of classes or a semester of college, but couldn’t complete a degree because life got in the way. He said it would also benefit those who never thought they could afford college.

“Maybe they live in Alpena, maybe they didn’t see an avenue to how to pay and this could be a great possibility for them,” he said.

Adults who are already enrolled at ACC are also eligible for the program.

Kollien said there is no deadline for the program, but those who are interested should apply early. Once they are accepted into the program, he said they could begin college as soon as the summer semester.

To apply for the program, visit michigan.gov/reconnect to apply, complete an ACC application for admission online at discover.alpenacc.edu/admissions, and complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid at studentaid.gov.

Michigan Reconnect was launched by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Tuesday and is designed to address a widening skills gap within the state’s workforce.

Reconnect Michigan is different from the Futures for Frontliners program, which allowed essential workers to apply for free college tuition if they had not earned a degree, but worked in an essential industry during the pandemic.

Of the 137 people who applied for the Futures for Frontliners program at ACC, 87 of them received an award for frontline dollars while 50 did not.

Both programs support Michigan’s goal to increase the number of working age adults with a skill certificate or college degree from 45% today to 60% by 2030.