Get your AA while in high school. Get it free. https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/high-point-virtual-academy-offers-high-school-students-free-online-associates-degree
All my life living in the ‘Enchanted Mitten’....and I have no idea where the name Michigander came from. It does seem odd. rumor has it that Abraham Lincoln had something to do with it.
Free education is only a tiny part of earning a degree. Unless grades are being giving away then the rest is all about hard work and commitment . I see tuition as a barrier to entry, and not an essential part of education.