ASMSU is MSU’s undergraduate student government.

“It shows that we as college students aren’t apathetic,” Academic Assembly External Vice Chairperson Dillon Lappe said. “We live in this state; this is important to us.”

About 11,000 MSU students use the scholarship, according to the MSU Office of Financial Aid.

The scholarship, created under former Michigan Gov. John Engler as the Michigan Merit Award, is a merit-based scholarship based on high school standardized test scores. Gov. Jennifer Granholm changed the name of the award to the Michigan Promise Scholarship, providing up to $4,000 to students who complete two years of post-secondary education.

Last month, the state Senate voted to cut the scholarship from the state budget. The cut would save the state about $140 million.

However, the Michigan House of Representative’s version of the state budget has not called for the scholarship’s elimination. Once the House and the Senate make a decision on the fate of the scholarship, Granholm can either veto or approve the decision.

Student Assembly Chairperson Kyle Dysarz and University of Michigan Student Assembly President Abhishek Mahanti both spoke against the Senate’s decision to end the scholarship.

“We just want to start a dialogue,” Abhishek said. “We are working really hard to make that happen.”

Dysarz said he hoped the issue of the scholarship would be resolved before the school year’s start.

“It really depends on what the current legislation brings,” he said.

Abhishek said working with ASMSU was incredible and college students from any Michigan school can come forward and work together.

“It incentivizes good performance in school,” he said.

As the fate of the scholarship continues to be discussed, Dysarz said ASMSU will address it.

“We plan to spend the rest of this year on this effort,” he said.