Communities with more college degrees have higher incomes, less reliance on social services, and greater economic growth. To ensure that Michigan's workforce has the skills needed for the modern economy, the state's leaders must build a financial aid system that helps families cover college costs. However, disjointed program designs, maintenance restrictions, and administrative barriers diminish the effectiveness of Michigan's eight state financial aid programs in reaching this vital goal. In this report, the authors examine how the fine print of these programs place unnecessary hurdles between students and the aid they need, in ways that are likely to compound inequities in college access by race and income. This report has four primary aims: (1) Highlight evidence-based principles for effective financial aid design; (2) Provide an inventory of Michigan's existing state financial aid programs, including eligibility criteria, award amounts, award duration, total spending per year, and other key design elements; (3) Evaluate and discuss each program on the basis of efficacy and equity using criteria developed by The Education Trust and Kelly Ochs Rosinger and Jilaing Wang at Penn State University and Katherine Meyer at Brown University; and (4) Provide policy recommendations for improving the design of financial aid in Michigan. This report serves as a primer on the state's financial aid programs and a policy blueprint for streamlined and equitable aid for Michigan's future. [Research and writing support for this report was provided by Jessica Thompson, Kate Tromble, Lindsay Ahlman, Shannon Serrato, and Angelique Palomar.]