Thursday’s Flint session adds $100 or $200 per child for a new college-savings plan

FLINT — Treasury will staff a free college-savings session from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday at the Flint Sloan Museum, and a family that opens a prepaid-tuition contract there can get up to $200 per child.

The Nov. 9 release says the session is at 1221 E. Kearsley St. No appointment is required. A short presentation is at 4:30 p.m. Staff from the Michigan Education Trust and the Michigan Education Savings Program will sit with families one at a time. MET, the prepaid plan, pays a $100 bonus per beneficiary if the first deposit is $25 to $499, and $200 if the first deposit is $500 or more. The money has to be one payment, and the family has to attend an in-person fall 2026 session. The release says a family can start with $25.

MET buys future tuition at today’s rates. The release says the contract price may qualify for a state tax deduction and that earnings are not taxed if they pay qualified education costs. The money can go to an out-of-state school, a Michigan private college or a trade school, and credits can move to another family member. MESP is the investment plan, with a state income-tax deduction on contributions and tax-free growth if the money pays qualified costs, including tuition, fees, room, board, books and required supplies. Megan Patino, whom Treasury identified in an October release as MET’s executive director, says in the Flint announcement that the plans cover a range of paths and that a change of plans does not wipe out the savings, because the benefit can transfer inside the family.

The bonus is not automatic

Opening an account online this week, without going to Kearsley Street or another fall session, does not meet the rule as printed. The $100 and $200 amounts are per beneficiary, not per household, and only on that first single payment. The photograph is downtown Flint. It is not the museum lobby and it is not a contract. Thursday is 4 to 7 p.m. at 1221 E. Kearsley. A $25 to $499 MET deposit draws $100 per child. $500 draws $200. It must be one payment, in person, at a fall session. The museum is the Flint Sloan Museum on Kearsley. Drop-in is allowed. MET buys tuition at today’s price and can be used at a Michigan private college, an out-of-state school or a trade school, and the credit can move to another relative. MESP is the investment account, with a state deduction on contributions when the rules are met. An online opening that skips the fall session does not qualify for the bonus as the release describes it.

Sources:
Michigan Treasury, “Flint Event Offers Up To $200 Bonus To Start Saving For College,” Nov. 9, 2026, https://www.michigan.gov/treasury/news/2026/11/09/flint-event-offers-up-to-$200-bonus-to-start-saving-for-college
MET event page, Flint Sloan Museum, Nov. 12, 2026, https://www.michigan.gov/setwithmet/what-is-met/met-events/2026/11/12/flint-information-and-enrollment-session
Photo: Michael Barera, “Flint July 2018 03 (Saginaw Street).jpg”, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AFlint_July_2018_03_%28Saginaw_Street%29.jpg

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Tags: Flint · College savings · MET · MESP · Treasury