Program has been offered since 2011

The University of Missouri-Kansas City is now in its sixth year of offering guaranteed tuition-free education to Missouri residents eligible for federal Pell Grants.

The UMKC Advantage Grant program, offered since 2011, is designed to cover the gap between a student’s gift aid and the cost of tuition. To be eligible for the UMKC Advantage Grant, students must be Pell-Grant-eligible Missouri residents, and maintain full-time enrollment with a minimum 2.5 GPA. More than 650 students have benefitted from the program over the past six years to enroll at Kansas City’s only urban public research university.

The program was launched as part of the university’s overall Access 2 Success Initiative, designed to open up higher education to more low-income and under-represented student groups. It also addresses University of Missouri system goals for providing affordable and accessible educational opportunities to Missouri residents.

Initial UMKC Advantage Grants are available to both first-time freshmen and to transfer students who have earned an associate’s degree, and are renewable on an annual basis. The amount of the UMKC Advantage Grant varies depending on the amount of other gift aid the student receives, and the number of credits a student enrolls in; the minimum is 12 credits per semester to maintain full-time student status. Advantage grants are not available to students enrolled in the School of Medicine, School of Pharmacy or Conservatory of Music and Dance.