Minnesota Office of Higher Education/Government grant
Minnesota Fostering Independence Grant
Covers what is left of your whole cost of attendance, not only tuition, after Pell and every other award is counted. Up to five years, for students who were in foster care in Minnesota at 13 or older. The state is supposed to spot you from your FAFSA and tell you, but do not wait to be found.
Your recognised cost of attendance minus everything else you are getting: the federal need analysis, Pell, the state grant, FSEOG, Tribal scholarships, other state and federal gift aid, the Education and Training Voucher, extended foster care benefits, outside private scholarships, and at public institutions any institutional grants and waivers. Whatever remains is paid straight to the institution. Up to five years.
Rolling, apply any time
What you need
How to apply
- 1File the FAFSASubmitting it is a condition of the grant, and it is also how the Office of Higher Education is meant to find you. Everything else here depends on it existing.
- 2Tell the financial aid office you were in foster careThe grant is paid to the institution, so their aid office is who administers it. Say it plainly rather than waiting to be identified, because being found automatically is a duty on the state and not a guarantee to you.
- 3If you are looking at a private college, ask whether it opted outPrivate institutions may opt out by 1 March for the next academic year. Public ones cannot. A college that has opted out must still hold harmless students already receiving it.
Where this comes from
- Official source
- https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/136A.1241
- Last checked by SCRN
- 2026-09-03Verified null days ago
- How it was verified
- Checked against the official page by a person at SCRN
- Source level
- Provider verifiedRead from the provider's own page.
- Deadline
- RollingThe statute sets no student deadline. The FAFSA is what triggers it, so the FAFSA deadline is the one that matters in practice. Private institutions can opt out of the programme by 1 March for the following year, so if you are choosing between colleges it is worth asking each one directly.
- How often
- annual