99h State Grant Open for Application; Closes Feb. 9 at 12pm (noon).

The 99h state grant is open for application! The grant application must be submitted before 12pm noon on February 9, 2026.

The grant is administered by the Michigan Dept. of Education (MDE) and not FIRST in Michigan.

Eligibility:

• • Any MDE recognized public or non-public school/district may apply for the grant on behalf of all the FIRST teams in their school/district. This includes public charters, academies, and ISD’s (with some stipulations on ISD offerings).
  • Teams must be registered for the 2025-26 season before February 9th to be considered for the grant ($325 FIRST HQ reg fee paid).
  • Participating in a Fall or Spring (mid-May) FiM FTC event satisfies the competition requirement for the grant.

GRANT RESOURCES – Please share with your Level 5.

• The 99h state grant application is available through the MI Dept. of Education’s NexSys grant system. The application name is: 99h- Robotics Competition Grant.
• The application is accessible by the district’s/school’s Level 5 person. This is usually someone in the business or Supt. office.
• ALL robotics teams in the district (or school) go on the one application.
• Teams not yet registered for the season must pay the $325 FIRST HQ season registration fee before February 9th to be eligible for grant consideration.

Visit the MDE’s 99h State Grant website page (new link this season):

• https://www.michigan.gov/mde/services/financial-management/grants/oset-grants/99h—robotics
• Resources include:
  • Robotics Competition Grant Application Instructions – Very useful
  • Robotics Competition Grant Technical Assistance Recording – a MUST WATCH walkthrough of the grant application.
  • Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
  • Robotics Competition Grant Request for Proposal (RFP)

FiM provided resource:

• FiM 99h Grant Step by Step Guide (link).
  • Please review. This is a very useful doc to share with your Level 5.
  • Includes:
    • List of Level 5s by building (as of 2023-24; dated but it’s a starting place)
    • Grant worksheets to gather info to share with your Level 5
    • List of FiM teams across all programs by district/school
    • Info to provide to your Level 5

99h application changes to note:

The application is organized differently this season. The information is reported at the building level.

• BUILDING PAGES: One building per page
  • A single building on top (this is for the stipend, since it’s limited to $1,500 per building.
  • List of all teams housed within that building.
  • Add an additional “page” for each additional building in the district that has teams.
•  BUDGET PAGE includes all of the teams from all buildings.
  • Enter only one line on the budget for each building for stipend award.
  • Enter only one line on the budget for each team’s support award
• Sponsor information is no longer captured on the application. It is still a requirement of the grant, per legislation, that applicants establish a partnership with at least one sponsor.
  • Applying ISDs, LEAs, and Nonpubs must establish a partnership with at least one sponsor. This may include a business entity, higher education institution, technical school, or an individual.