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Should College Be Free? The Pros and Cons

Types of Publicly Funded College Tuition Programs

Pros: why college should be free, cons: why college should not be free, what the free college debate means for students, how to cut your college costs now, frequently asked questions (faqs).

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Americans have been debating the wisdom of free college for decades, and more than 30 states now offer some type of free college program. But it wasn't until 2021 that a nationwide free college program came close to becoming reality, re-energizing a longstanding debate over whether or not free college is a good idea. 

And despite a setback for the free-college advocates, the idea is still in play. The Biden administration's free community college proposal was scrapped from the American Families Plan . But close observers say that similar proposals promoting free community college have drawn solid bipartisan support in the past. "Community colleges are one of the relatively few areas where there's support from both Republicans and Democrats," said Tulane economics professor Douglas N. Harris, who has previously consulted with the Biden administration on free college, in an interview with The Balance. 

To get a sense of the various arguments for and against free college, as well as the potential impacts on U.S. students and taxpayers, The Balance combed through studies investigating the design and implementation of publicly funded free tuition programs and spoke with several higher education policy experts. Here's what we learned about the current debate over free college in the U.S.—and more about how you can cut your college costs or even get free tuition through existing programs.

Key Takeaways

• Research shows free tuition programs encourage more students to attend college and increase graduation rates, which creates a better-educated workforce and higher-earning consumers who can help boost the economy. 
• Some programs are criticized for not paying students’ non-tuition expenses, not benefiting students who need assistance most, or steering students toward community college instead of four-year programs.  
• If you want to find out about free programs in your area, the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education has a searchable database. You’ll find the link further down in this article. 

Before diving into the weeds of the free college debate, it's important to note that not all free college programs are alike. Most publicly funded tuition assistance programs are restricted to the first two years of study, typically at community colleges. Free college programs also vary widely in the ways they’re designed, funded, and structured:

• Last-dollar tuition-free programs : These programs cover any remaining tuition after a student has used up other financial aid , such as Pell Grants. Most state-run free college programs fall into this category. However, these programs don’t typically help with room and board or other expenses.
• First-dollar tuition-free programs : These programs pay for students' tuition upfront, although they’re much rarer than last-dollar programs. Any remaining financial aid that a student receives can then be applied to other expenses, such as books and fees. The California College Promise Grant is a first-dollar program because it waives enrollment fees for eligible students.
• Debt-free programs : These programs pay for all of a student's college expenses , including room and board, guaranteeing that they can graduate debt-free. But they’re also much less common, likely due to their expense.  

Proponents often argue that publicly funded college tuition programs eventually pay for themselves, in part by giving students the tools they need to find better jobs and earn higher incomes than they would with a high school education. The anticipated economic impact, they suggest, should help ease concerns about the costs of public financing education. Here’s a closer look at the arguments for free college programs.

A More Educated Workforce Benefits the Economy

Morley Winograd, President of the Campaign for Free College Tuition, points to the economic and tax benefits that result from the higher wages of college grads. "For government, it means more revenue," said Winograd in an interview with The Balance—the more a person earns, the more they will likely pay in taxes . In addition, "the country's economy gets better because the more skilled the workforce this country has, the better [it’s] able to compete globally." Similarly, local economies benefit from a more highly educated, better-paid workforce because higher earners have more to spend. "That's how the economy grows," Winograd explained, “by increasing disposable income."

According to Harris, the return on a government’s investment in free college can be substantial. "The additional finding of our analysis was that these things seem to consistently pass a cost-benefit analysis," he said. "The benefits seem to be at least double the cost in the long run when we look at the increased college attainment and the earnings that go along with that, relative to the cost and the additional funding and resources that go into them." 

Free College Programs Encourage More Students to Attend

Convincing students from underprivileged backgrounds to take a chance on college can be a challenge, particularly when students are worried about overextending themselves financially. But free college programs tend to have more success in persuading students to consider going, said Winograd, in part because they address students' fears that they can't afford higher education . "People who wouldn't otherwise think that they could go to college, or who think the reason they can't is [that] it's too expensive, [will] stop, pay attention, listen, decide it's an opportunity they want to take advantage of, and enroll," he said.

According to Harris, students also appear to like the certainty and simplicity of the free college message. "They didn't want to have to worry that next year they were not going to have enough money to pay their tuition bill," he said. "They don't know what their finances are going to look like a few months down the road, let alone next year, and it takes a while to get a degree. So that matters." 

Free college programs can also help send "a clear and tangible message" to students and their families that a college education is attainable for them, said Michelle Dimino, an Education Director with Third Way. This kind of messaging is especially important to first-generation and low-income students, she said. 

Free College Increases Graduation Rates and Financial Security

Free tuition programs appear to improve students’ chances of completing college. For example, Harris noted that his research found a meaningful link between free college tuition and higher graduation rates. "What we found is that it did increase college graduation at the two-year college level, so more students graduated than otherwise would have." 

Free college tuition programs also give people a better shot at living a richer, more comfortable life, say advocates. "It's almost an economic necessity to have some college education," noted Winograd. Similar to the way a high school diploma was viewed as crucial in the 20th century, employees are now learning that they need at least two years of college to compete in a global, information-driven economy. "Free community college is a way of making that happen quickly, effectively, and essentially," he explained. 

Free community college isn’t a universally popular idea. While many critics point to the potential costs of funding such programs, others identify issues with the effectiveness and fairness of current attempts to cover students’ college tuition. Here’s a closer look at the concerns about free college programs.

It Would Be Too Expensive

The idea of free community college has come under particular fire from critics who worry about the cost of social spending. Since community colleges aren't nearly as expensive as four-year colleges—often costing thousands of dollars a year—critics argue that individuals can often cover their costs using other forms of financial aid . But, they point out, community college costs would quickly add up when paid for in bulk through a free college program: Biden’s proposed free college plan would have cost $49.6 billion in its first year, according to an analysis from Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce. Some opponents argue that the funds could be put to better use in other ways, particularly by helping students complete their degrees.

Free College Isn't Really Free

One of the most consistent concerns that people have voiced about free college programs is that they don’t go far enough. Even if a program offers free tuition, students will need to find a way to pay for other college-related expenses , such as books, room and board, transportation, high-speed internet, and, potentially, child care. "Messaging is such a key part of this," said Dimino. Students "may apply or enroll in college, understanding it's going to be free, but then face other unexpected charges along the way." 

It's important for policymakers to consider these factors when designing future free college programs. Otherwise, Dimino and other observers fear that students could potentially wind up worse off if they enroll and invest in attending college and then are forced to drop out due to financial pressures. 

Free College Programs Don’t Help the Students Who Need Them Most

Critics point out that many free college programs are limited by a variety of quirks and restrictions, which can unintentionally shut out deserving students or reward wealthier ones. Most state-funded free college programs are last-dollar programs, which don’t kick in until students have applied financial aid to their tuition. That means these programs offer less support to low-income students who qualify for need-based aid—and more support for higher-income students who don’t.

Community College May Not Be the Best Path for All Students

Some critics also worry that all students will be encouraged to attend community college when some would have been better off at a four-year institution. Four-year colleges tend to have more resources than community colleges and can therefore offer more support to high-need students. 

In addition, some research has shown that students at community colleges are less likely to be academically successful than students at four-year colleges, said Dimino. "Statistically, the data show that there are poorer outcomes for students at community colleges […] such as lower graduation rates and sometimes low transfer rates from two- to four-year schools." 

With Congress focused on other priorities, a nationwide free college program is unlikely to happen anytime soon. However, some states and municipalities offer free tuition programs, so students may be able to access some form of free college, depending on where they live. A good resource is the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education’s searchable database of Promise Programs , which lists more than 100 free community college programs, though the majority are limited to California residents.

In the meantime, school leaders and policymakers may shift their focus to other access and equity interventions for low-income students. For example, higher education experts Eileen Strempel and Stephen Handel published a book in 2021 titled "Beyond Free College: Making Higher Education Work for 21st Century Students." The book argues that policymakers should focus more strongly on college completion, not just college access. "There hasn't been enough laser-focus on how we actually get people to complete their degrees," noted Strempel in an interview with The Balance. 

Rather than just improving access for low-income college students, Strempel and Handel argue that decision-makers should instead look more closely at the social and economic issues that affect students , such as food and housing insecurity, child care, transportation, and personal technology. For example, "If you don't have a computer, you don't have access to your education anymore," said Strempel. "It's like today's pencil."

Saving money on college costs can be challenging, but you can take steps to reduce your cost of living. For example, if you're interested in a college but haven't yet enrolled, pay close attention to where it's located and how much residents typically pay for major expenses, such as housing, utilities, and food. If the college is located in a high-cost area, it could be tough to justify the living expenses you'll incur. Similarly, if you plan to commute, take the time to check gas or public transportation prices and calculate how much you'll likely have to spend per month to go to and from campus several times a week. 

Now that more colleges offer classes online, it may also be worth looking at lower-cost programs in areas that are farther from where you live, particularly if they allow you to graduate without setting foot on campus. Also, check out state and federal financial aid programs that can help you slim down your expenses, or, in some cases, pay for them completely. Finally, look into need-based and merit-based grants and scholarships that can help you cover even more of your expenses. Also, consider applying to no-loan colleges , which promise to help students graduate without going into debt.

Should community college be free?

It’s a big question with varying viewpoints. Supporters of free community college cite the economic contributions of a more educated workforce and the individual benefit of financial security, while critics caution against the potential expense and the inefficiency of last-dollar free college programs. 

What states offer free college?

More than 30 states offer some type of tuition-free college program, including Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Michigan, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Virginia, and Washington State. The University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education lists over 100 last-dollar community college programs and 16 first-dollar community college programs, though the majority are limited to California residents.

Is there a free college?

There is no such thing as a truly free college education. But some colleges offer free tuition programs for students, and more than 30 states offer some type of tuition-free college program. In addition, students may also want to check out employer-based programs. A number of big employers now offer to pay for their employees' college tuition . Finally, some students may qualify for enough financial aid or scholarships to cover most of their college costs.

Scholarships360. " Which States Offer Tuition-Free Community College? "

The White House. “ Build Back Better Framework ,” see “Bringing Down Costs, Reducing Inflationary Pressures, and Strengthening the Middle Class.”

The White House. “ Fact Sheet: How the Build Back Better Plan Will Create a Better Future for Young Americans ,” see “Education and Workforce Opportunities.”

Coast Community College District. “ California College Promise Grant .”

Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce. “ The Dollars and Cents of Free College ,” see “Biden’s Free College Plan Would Pay for Itself Within 10 Years.”

Third Way. “ Why Free College Could Increase Inequality .”

Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce. “ The Dollars and Cents of Free College ,” see “Free-College Programs Have Different Effects on Race and Class Equity.”

University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education. “ College Promise Programs: A Comprehensive Catalog of College Promise Programs in the United States .”

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College & Careers

Tuition-free college is critical to our economy

Morley Winograd and Max Lubin

November 2, 2020, 13 comments.

To rebuild America’s economy in a way that offers everyone an equal chance to get ahead, federal support for free college tuition should be a priority in any economic recovery plan in 2021.

Research shows that the private and public economic benefit of free community college tuition would outweigh the cost. That’s why half of the states in the country already have some form of free college tuition.

The Democratic Party 2020 platform calls for making two years of community college tuition free for all students with a federal/state partnership similar to the Obama administration’s 2015 plan .

It envisions a program as universal and free as K-12 education is today, with all the sustainable benefits such programs (including Social Security and Medicare) enjoy. It also calls for making four years of public college tuition free, again in partnership with states, for students from families making less than $125,000 per year.

The Republican Party didn’t adopt a platform for the 2020 election, deferring to President Trump’s policies, which among other things, stand in opposition to free college. Congressional Republicans, unlike many of their state counterparts, also have not supported free college tuition in the past.

However, it should be noted that the very first state free college tuition program was initiated in 2015 by former Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, a Republican. Subsequently, such deep red states with Republican majorities in their state legislature such as West Virginia, Kentucky and Arkansas have adopted similar programs.

Establishing free college tuition benefits for more Americans would be the 21st-century equivalent of the Depression-era Works Progress Administration initiative.

That program not only created immediate work for the unemployed, but also offered skills training for nearly 8 million unskilled workers in the 1930s. Just as we did in the 20th century, by laying the foundation for our current system of universal free high school education and rewarding our World War II veterans with free college tuition to help ease their way back into the workforce, the 21st century system of higher education we build must include the opportunity to attend college tuition-free.

California already has taken big steps to make its community college system, the largest in the nation, tuition free by fully funding its California Promise grant program. But community college is not yet free to all students. Tuition costs — just more than $1,500 for a full course load — are waived for low-income students. Colleges don’t have to spend the Promise funds to cover tuition costs for other students so, at many colleges, students still have to pay tuition.

At the state’s four-year universities, about 60% of students at the California State University and the same share of in-state undergraduates at the 10-campus University of California, attend tuition-free as well, as a result of Cal grants , federal Pell grants and other forms of financial aid.

But making the CSU and UC systems tuition-free for even more students will require funding on a scale that only the federal government is capable of supporting, even if the benefit is only available to students from families that makes less than $125,000 a year.

It is estimated that even without this family income limitation, eliminating tuition for four years at all public colleges and universities for all students would cost taxpayers $79 billion a year, according to U.S. Department of Education data . Consider, however, that the federal government  spent $91 billion  in 2016 on policies that subsidized college attendance. At least some of that could be used to help make public higher education institutions tuition-free in partnership with the states.

Free college tuition programs have proved effective in helping mitigate the system’s current inequities by increasing college enrollment, lowering dependence on student loan debt and improving completion rates , especially among students of color and lower-income students who are often the first in their family to attend college.

In the first year of the TN Promise , community college enrollment in Tennessee increased by 24.7%, causing 4,000 more students to enroll. The percentage of Black students in that state’s community college population increased from 14% to 19% and the proportion of Hispanic students increased from 4% to 5%.

Students who attend community college tuition-free also graduate at higher rates. Tennessee’s first Promise student cohort had a 52.6% success rate compared to only a 38.9% success rate for their non-Promise peers. After two years of free college tuition, Rhode Island’s college-promise program saw its community college graduation rate triple and the graduation rate among students of color increase ninefold.

The impact on student debt is more obvious. Tennessee, for instance, saw its applications for student loans decrease by 17% in the first year of its program, with loan amounts decreasing by 12%. At the same time, Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) applications soared, with 40% of the entire nation’s increase in applications originating in that state in the first year of their Promise program.

Wage inequality by education, already dreadful before the pandemic, is getting worse. In May, the unemployment rate among workers without a high school diploma was nearly triple the rate of workers with a bachelor’s degree. No matter what Congress does to provide support to those affected by the pandemic and the ensuing recession, employment prospects for far too many people in our workforce will remain bleak after the pandemic recedes. Today, the fastest growing sectors of the economy are in health care, computers and information technology. To have a real shot at a job in those sectors, workers need a college credential of some form such as an industry-recognized skills certificate or an associate’s or bachelor’s degree.

The surest way to make the proven benefits of higher education available to everyone is to make college tuition-free for low and middle-income students at public colleges, and the federal government should help make that happen.

Morley Winograd is president of the Campaign for Free College Tuition . Max Lubin is CEO of Rise , a student-led nonprofit organization advocating for free college.  

The opinions in this commentary are those of the author. Commentaries published on EdSource represent diverse viewpoints about California’s public education systems. If you would like to submit a commentary, please review our  guidelines  and  contact us .

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Genia Curtsinger 2 years ago 2 years ago

Making community college free to those who meet the admission requirements would help many people. First of all, it would make it easy for students and families, for instance; you go to college and have to pay thousands of dollars to get a college education, but if community college is free it would help so you could be saving money and get a college education for free, with no cost at all. It would make … Read More

Making community college free to those who meet the admission requirements would help many people. First of all, it would make it easy for students and families, for instance; you go to college and have to pay thousands of dollars to get a college education, but if community college is free it would help so you could be saving money and get a college education for free, with no cost at all. It would make it more affordable to the student and their families.

Therefore I think people should have free education for those who meet the admission requirements.

nothing 2 years ago 2 years ago

I feel like colleges shouldn’t be completely free, but a lot more affordable for people so everyone can have a chance to have a good college education.

Jaden Wendover 2 years ago 2 years ago

I think all colleges should be free, because why would you pay to learn?

Samantha Cole 2 years ago 2 years ago

I think college should be free because there are a lot of people that want to go to college but they can’t pay for it so they don’t go and end up in jail or working as a waitress or in a convenience store. I know I want to go to college but I can’t because my family doesn’t make enough money to send me to college but my family makes too much for financial aid.

Nick Gurrs 3 years ago 3 years ago

I feel like this subject has a lot of answers, For me personally, I believe tuition and college, in general, should be free because it will help students get out of debt and not have debt, and because it will help people who are struggling in life to get a job and make a living off a job.

NO 3 years ago 3 years ago

I think college tuition should be free. A lot of adults want to go to college and finish their education but can’t partly because they can’t afford to. Some teens need to work at a young age just so they can save money for college which I feel they shouldn’t have to. If people don’t want to go to college then they just can work and go on with their lives.

Not saying my name 3 years ago 3 years ago

I think college tuition should be free because people drop out because they can’t pay the tuition to get into college and then they can’t graduate and live a good life and they won’t get a job because it says they dropped out of school. So it would be harder to get a job and if the tuition wasn’t a thing, people would live an awesome life because of this.

Brisa 3 years ago 3 years ago

I’m not understanding. Are we not agreeing that college should be free, or are we?

m 2 years ago 2 years ago

it shouldnt

Trevor Everhart 3 years ago 3 years ago

What do you mean by there is no such thing as free tuition?

Olga Snichernacs 3 years ago 3 years ago

Nice! I enjoyed reading.

Anonymous Cat 3 years ago 3 years ago

Tuition-Free: Free tuition, or sometimes tuition free is a phrase you have heard probably a good number of times. … Therefore, free tuition to put it simply is the opportunity provide to students by select universities around the world to received a degree from their institution without paying any sum of money for the teaching.

Mister B 4 years ago 4 years ago

There is no such thing as tuition free.

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The Argument for Tuition-Free College

Soaring tuitions and student loan debt are placing higher education beyond the reach of many American students. It’s time to make college free and accessible to all.

by Keith Ellison

April 14, 2016

(Shutterstock)

In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Land Grant College Act into law, laying the groundwork for the largest system of publicly funded universities in the world. Some of America's greatest colleges, including the University of Minnesota, were created by federal land grants, and were known as "democracy's colleges" or "people's colleges."

But that vision of a "people's college" seems awfully remote to a growing number of American students crushed under soaring tuitions and mounting debt. One hundred and fifty years after Lincoln made his pledge, it's time to make public colleges and universities free for every American.

This idea is easier than it looks. For most of our nation's history, public colleges and universities have been much more affordable than they are today, with lower tuition, and financial aid that covered a much larger portion of the costs . The first step in making college accessible again, and returning to an education system that serves every American, is addressing the student loan debt crisis.

The cost of attending a four-year college has increased by 1,122 percent since 1978 . Galloping tuition hikes have made attending college more expensive today than at any point in U.S. history. At the same time, debt from student loans has become the largest form of personal debt in America-bigger than credit card debt and auto loans. Last year, 38 million American students owed more than $1.3 trillion in student loans.

Once, a degree used to mean a brighter future for college graduates, access to the middle class, and economic stability.

Today, student loan debt increases inequality and makes it harder for low-income graduates, particularly those of color , to buy a house, open a business, and start a family.

The solution lies in federal investments to states to lower the overall cost of public colleges and universities. In exchange, states would commit to reinvesting state funds in higher education. Any public college or university that benefited from the reinvestment program would be required to limit tuition increases. This federal-state partnership would help lower tuition for all students. Schools that lowered tuition would receive additional federal grants based on the degree to which costs are lowered.

Reinvesting in higher education programs like Pell Grants and work-study would ensure that Pell and other forms of financial aid that students don't need to pay back would cover a greater portion of tuition costs for low-income students. In addition, states that participate in this partnership would ensure that low-income students who attend state colleges and universities could afford non-tuition expenses like textbooks and housing fees . This proposal is one way to ensure that no student graduates with loans to pay back.

If the nation can provide hundreds of billions of dollars in subsidies to the oil and gas industry and billions of dollars more to Wall Street , we can afford to pay for public higher education. A tax on financial transactions like derivatives and stock trades would cover the cost. Building a truly affordable higher education system is an investment that would pay off economically.

Eliminating student loan debt is the first step, but it's not the last. Once we ensure that student loan debt isn't a barrier to going to college, we should reframe how we think about higher education. College shouldn't just be debt free-it should be free. Period.

We all help pay for our local high schools and kindergartens, whether or not we send our kids to them. And all parents have the option of choosing public schools, even if they can afford private institutions. Free primary and secondary schooling is good for our economy, strengthens our democracy, and most importantly, is critical for our children's health and future. Educating our kids is one of our community's most important responsibilities, and it's a right that every one of us enjoys. So why not extend public schooling to higher education as well?

Some might object that average Americans should not have to pay for students from wealthy families to go to school. But certain things should be guaranteed to all Americans, poor or rich. It's not a coincidence that some of the most important social programs in our government's history have applied to all citizens, and not just to those struggling to make ends meet.

Universal programs are usually stronger and more stable over the long term, and they're less frequently targeted by budget cuts and partisan attacks. Public schools have stood the test of time-let's make sure public colleges and universities do, too.

The United States has long been committed to educating all its people, not only its elites.

This country is also the wealthiest in the history of the world. We can afford to make college an option for every American family.

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Expert Commentary

‘Free-college’ and ‘tuition-free’ programs: What the research says

While many politicians argue eliminating tuition will help more Americans go to college, studies show the results of “free college” programs differ according to their scope and structure.

Republish this article

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License .

by Denise-Marie Ordway, The Journalist's Resource December 12, 2019

This <a target="_blank" href="https://journalistsresource.org/education/free-college-tuition-research/">article</a> first appeared on <a target="_blank" href="https://journalistsresource.org">The Journalist's Resource</a> and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.<img src="https://journalistsresource.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/cropped-jr-favicon-150x150.png" style="width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;">

In the lead-up to the 2020 elections, the  Journalist’s Resource  team is combing through the Democratic presidential candidates’ platforms and reporting what the research says about their policy proposals. We want to encourage deep coverage of these proposals — and do our part to deter  horse race journalism , which research suggests can lead to inaccurate reporting and an uninformed electorate. We’re focusing on those that have a reasonable chance of becoming federal policy if a Democrat is elected to the nation’s highest office. For us, that means at least 3 of the 5 top-polling candidates  support the idea. Most candidates say they would provide “free college,” but their plans differ in terms of who would qualify to receive it and which postsecondary institutions would participate. Free-college proposals generally aim to cover either tuition or tuition and mandatory student fees.

Candidates in favor of free community college

Michael Bennet *, Joe Biden , Cory Booker *, John Delaney *, Amy Klobuchar *, Deval Patrick *, Tom Steyer *, Andrew Yang *

Candidates in favor of free public colleges and universities

Pete Buttigieg *, Julián Castro *, Tulsi Gabbard *, Bernie Sanders *, Elizabeth Warren *, Marianne Williamson *

What the research says

While politicians argue that eliminating tuition will prompt more Americans to go to college and earn degrees, academic studies find this isn’t necessarily the case. Research shows the results of so-called “free college” programs differ according to their structure and scope.

Higher education can be expensive, and tuition is one part of the overall cost. Meanwhile, most free-college and free-tuition programs take a “last dollar” approach, meaning they cover only the amount of tuition left over after a student’s grants, scholarships and other financial aid money are applied. When structured this way, these programs offer a limited financial benefit to lower-income students . Many lower-income students receive a variety of need-based financial aid, including Pell Grants from the federal government , and if they spend that money on tuition, there’s often little or no tuition left for a free-college program to pay.

“First dollar” programs, on the other hand, are applied to the cost of tuition before other forms of financial aid, allowing students to use other aid money for such things as books, housing, transportation, food, laundry and medication.

Another key difference: Local free-college programs, of which there are hundreds nationally, target different student populations. While some offer free tuition to all students graduating from high schools in a specific geographical area, others are restricted to high-achieving students, full-time students or individuals who meet certain income and work requirements .

Key context

When politicians talk about “free college,” they’re usually talking about free tuition. Yang believes community colleges “should be funded at a level to make tuition free or nearly-free for anyone,” according to his campaign website, while Williamson told The Washington Post she supports “making community colleges and state schools affordable or free.”

Tuition, however, is not the largest expense for many students attending public colleges and universities — the schools most free-college plans target. Meals and housing are generally pricier than in-state tuition at public institutions. At community colleges, in-state tuition and fees totaled $3,642 , on average, for the 2017-18 academic year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics .

Off-campus housing and meals together cost an average of $9,952 that year for community college students who didn’t live with parents or guardians. Room and board on campus averaged $6,791. The NCES and other organizations often lump together tuition and mandatory student fees — science lab fees, student activity fees and athletic fees, for example — because, combined, they represent the cost of taking college courses. The NCES, a key source of national higher education data, also reports room and board as one cost.

Prices were higher at public, four-year institutions, primarily state universities. At those institutions, in-state tuition and fees totaled $9,044 , on average, in 2017-18. Their students paid an average of $10,680 for on-campus housing and food, and $8,683 if they lived off campus but not with family.

Another key piece of context: There are so many different models of free-college programs, and the trend is still relatively new, that it’s difficult to gauge which approach is best at making higher learning more affordable and getting more Americans to and through college. Meanwhile, the number of free-college programs, also commonly referred to as “college promise” programs, continues to grow.

Nationwide, there are 420 college promise programs, according to an online database the University of Pennsylvania’s Alliance for Higher Education and Democracy created to track and study these programs. Fewer than 300 such programs existed in fall 2016, according to a study published in the Educational Researcher in 2018, led by University of Pennsylvania professor of education Laura W. Perna .

Perna and a colleague found that broad conclusions cannot be drawn from their findings, largely because these programs vary tremendously from place to place. Some pay tuition at community colleges across a region while others provide tuition at one specific state university . Some cover tuition and other expenses. Programs also differ in terms of the length of time students can participate and how they are funded — private donations or public money.

Perna and her colleagues write that their analyses “underscore the need for policymakers, practitioners, and researchers to recognize the diversity of approaches that is masked by the college promise label before drawing conclusions about the transferability of findings about one college promise program to another.”

Formative findings

Free-college and free-tuition programs have existed for decades in the U.S. but, prior to 2010, peer-reviewed research on the topic was limited. These programs became more common after the Great Recession, amid rising college tuition prices, mounting student debt and the growing need for more Americans to have a college education.

Among the first programs was The Kalamazoo Promise , created in 2005 to pay both tuition and mandatory fees for all graduates of public high schools in Kalamazoo, Michigan who enrolled at a two- or four-year public institution in Michigan. In 2015, the Tennessee legislature drew a slew of media attention after passing the Tennessee Promise law, making the state the first in the U.S. to offer free community college tuition to all its high school graduates. Since then, several states have begun offering free community college tuition to some or all of their public high school graduates, including Oregon in 2016 , New York in 2017 and California in 2019 .

In 2017, New York became the first state to offer free tuition at state universities — so long as students meet income requirements and agree to remain in New York after receiving their degrees for the same number of years they received funding.

Early research on these individual programs provides mixed results, but indicates that offering free tuition might not be enough to increase the number of Americans going to college.

For example, a study published in 2010 finds that the Kalamazoo Promise program prompted Michigan high school students to consider a wider range of public colleges than they otherwise would have. After the program’s introduction, more students sent their college-entrance exam scores to the state’s most selective public universities — Michigan State University and the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor — and two local public schools — Kalamazoo Valley Community College and Western Michigan University.

The authors noted that lower-income students responded differently than their wealthier peers. Students whose families earned less than $50,000 a year were more likely to send their test scores to Michigan State University compared with students from higher-income households. They were less likely to send their scores to the local community college, a less expensive option. “Taken together, these estimates suggest that The Promise allows test-takers who are financially constrained to consider institutions that are higher priced and more selective,” the authors write in their paper, published in the Economics of Education Review .

In 2013, researchers published what they learned from examining a similar program a community college in the Pacific Northwest introduced in fall 2007. Under its Promise Scholarship program, the school provided one year of free tuition to all students who graduated from the local public high school, which primarily served racial and ethnic minority students living in a low-income area.

The authors of the study, which appeared in the Community College Journal of Research and Practice, discovered that the percentage of high school graduates who applied to the college soared after the program’s launch. Beforehand, fewer than 10% of graduates applied. In 2008, nearly 60% did. The share of graduates who applied began to fall, though, after that first year to 53% in 2009 and 46.3% in 2010, according to the study.

Not only did more students apply to the college, more students enrolled. Just over 8% of students who graduated from the local high school in 2007 went on to take classes at the community college. Meanwhile, 23% of the Class of 2008 did. The percentage of students who matriculated at the college steadily fell, however, with 20.5% of the Class of 2009 pursuing studies at the college and 17.1% of students graduating in 2010.

The authors also find that students who received free tuition were more likely to take a second semester of classes compared with students who did not, and the overall cost of the program was relatively low. Because most students received government grants or aid that covered the entire cost of their tuition, the program cost an average of $540 a year for each enrolled student, the authors explain.

A 2014 study of a free-college program in Massachusetts finds it has “little net benefit,“ the authors write in the American Economic Journal: Applied Economics .

At the time of the analysis, the John and Abigail Adams Scholarship covered tuition at in-state, public colleges for Massachusetts high school graduates who earned test scores that exceeded multiple thresholds. The authors explain that while the Adams Scholarship improved college enrollment, it encouraged high-achieving students to attend lower-quality public institutions, resulting in depressed college graduation rates.

The program, they write, “reduces by about 200 students per year the number of colleges degrees earned by Massachusetts high school graduates. All in all, these considerations suggest the state is spending large amounts of money for little net benefit or even net harm to its students.”

Recent research

Three academic studies conducted in recent years offer additional insights into the structure and impact of free-college and free-tuition programs.

A study that appeared in 2015 in the Journal of Student Financial Aid looks at a Pittsburgh program that paid up to $20,000 in tuition over four years for students who graduated from the city’s high schools with a certain grade-point average and attendance record. The authors’ main takeaway: The program, called the Pittsburgh Promise, did not affect college enrollment.

They found that in years immediately following the program’s introduction in 2007, there was no statistically significant change in the odds that a student with the qualifying grade-point average and attendance record enrolled in college. The authors did, however, detect a small uptick in the probability of enrolling at a public university. When they looked at other schools, they learned that even though the program “made two-year schools cheaper and out-of-state schools relatively more expensive, enrollment in these schools was for the most part unaffected.”

In looking at New York’s statewide free-college program, a study published earlier this year in Education Economics concludes that it had a “negligible” effect on college enrollment within its first few years.  The state’s Excelsior Scholarship offers free tuition at state-funded colleges and universities to state residents whose household incomes fall under a certain threshold. Recipients also must agree to remain in New York after college graduation for the same number of years they received the award.

That study finds that the program, at least in its early years, “created minimal to zero effects on enrollment in New York’s colleges and universities.”

The author writes that the post-graduation residency requirement might be a reason more students chose not participate in the program. “While this constraint can be interpreted as fairly lax and reasonable by some, it might be viewed by others as too stringent, considering that New York has a high average cost of living relative to other states, and that Excelsior scholars are only awarded up to $5,500 per year after all other aid resources are exhausted,” the author writes.

On the other hand, another 2019 paper finds the Kalamazoo Promise has demonstrated positive results in terms of college attendance, persistence and degree completion. To qualify for the program, which pays up to 100% of students’ tuition and fees at any public postsecondary school in Michigan, students must have attended a Kalamazoo public school continuously since ninth grade, live in and graduate from the school district and get accepted into a state college or university.

That free-college program, funded by anonymous private donors, also takes a first-dollar approach.

The authors analyzed data for students who graduated in 2003, 2004 and 2005 and compared with students who graduated in 2006 through 2013. What they learned: Kalamazoo Promise improved the odds of students enrolling in any college within six months of graduating high school by an estimated 14%. It boosted the odds of students enrolling in a four-year college by an estimated 23%.

Students took more classes, too. “We find that the cumulative number of [course] credits attempted increased by 13 percent as of two years after high school graduation, and these effects persist,” the researchers write in the paper, published in The Journal of Human Resources . “At two years out, the effects imply one additional class attempted; at four years out, they imply an additional two classes attempted.”

The authors discovered the free-college program also increased the percentage of students earning any postsecondary credential within six years of graduating high school by 10 percentage points. The proportion of racial and ethnic minorities who earned a bachelor’s degree within six years of graduating high school rose an estimated 7.4 percentage points, representing a 46% jump, according to the study. Researchers estimate the proportion of white students who received a bachelor’s degree within six years of graduating high school climbed 3 percentage points — a 7.5% bump.

Despite the improvements, the researchers note the program’s potential is limited. “As one might expect, ‘free college’ is insufficient by itself to ensure successful postsecondary education,” they write. “However, our results indicate that a simple, universal, and generous scholarship program can significantly increase educational attainment of American students. In addition, our results indicate that a simple universal scholarship can help low-income as well as non-low-income students, and therefore have broad benefits.”

Further reading

The Effects of the Kalamazoo Promise on College Choice

Rodney J. Andrews, Stephen DesJardins and Vimal Ranchhod. Economics of Education Review , 2010.

The gist: “We find that the Kalamazoo Promise increases the likelihood that students from Kalamazoo Public Schools consider public institutions in Michigan. In addition, we find that the Kalamazoo Promise especially impacts the college choice set of students from families who earn less than $50,000 in annual income.”

The Effect of a Community College Promise Scholarship on Access and Success

Elizabeth A. Pluhta and G. Richard Penny. Community College Journal of Research and Practice , 2013.

The gist: “The promise of a [tuition] scholarship plus an intensive outreach effort resulted in the majority of graduating seniors submitting scholarship applications and a four-fold increase in the proportion of graduates from the high school who subsequently matriculated at the community college. Once at college, the student recipients demonstrated a high rate of quarter-to-quarter retention. However, few placed into college-level courses in English and math, and their academic progress at the end of the first year was modest.”

Merit Aid, College Quality, and College Completion: Massachusetts’ Adams Scholarship as an In-Kind Subsidy

Sarah R. Cohodes and Joshua S. Goodman. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics , 2014.

The gist: The authors find that “students are remarkably willing to forgo college quality and that [free-tuition] scholarship use actually lowered college completion rates.”

  Using a Merit-Based Scholarship Program to Increase Rates of College Enrollment in an Urban School District: The Case of the Pittsburgh Promise

Robert Bozick, Gabriella Gonzalez and John Engberg. Journal of Student Financial Aid , 2015.

The gist: “Findings showed that the scholarship had no direct effect on the overall rate of college enrollment. However, scholarship-eligible graduates were more likely to attend four-year schools in the years in which the scholarship was available.”

Understanding the Promise: A Typology of State and Local College Promise Programs

Laura W. Perna and Elaine W. Leigh. Educational Researcher , 2018.

The gist: This study offers a broad overview of U.S. “college promise” programs. “The study addresses the following questions: What are predominant types of promise programs that are operating across the United States? What are the programmatic characteristics of different types of promise programs? How do state-sponsored promise programs compare with other promise programs?”

Free Tuition and College Enrollment: Evidence from New York’s Excelsior Program

Hieu Nguyen. Education Economics , 2019.

The gist: “ Since the fall of 2017, New York has offered free tuition to eligible residents attending its state-funded two-year and four-year colleges under its unique Excelsior Scholarship program. We …  document that institution-level enrollment effects are negligible.”

The Effects of the Kalamazoo Promise Scholarship on College Enrollment and Completion

Timothy J. Bartik, Brad J. Hershbein and Marta Lachowska. The Journal of Human Resources , 2019.

The gist: “According to our estimates, the [Kalamazoo] Promise significantly increases college enrollment, college credits attempted, and credential attainment. Stronger effects occur for women.”

Subject experts

Michelle Miller-Adams , professor of political science at Grand Valley State University and research fellow at the W.E. Upjohn Institute.

Robert Bifulco , a ssociate dean, chair and professor for the Public Administration and International Affairs Department at Syracuse University and senior research associate at the Center for Policy Research and the Education Finance and Accountability Program at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.

Celeste Carruthers , associate professor in the Haslam College of Business at the University of Tennessee with a joint appointment in the Department of Economics and the Boyd Center for Business and Economic Research.

Sarah Cohodes , associate professor of economics and education at Teachers College, Columbia University.

Joshua Goodman , associate professor of economics at Brandeis University.

Jennifer Iriti , research scientist at the Learning Research & Development Center at the University of Pittsburgh.

Lindsay Page , associate professor in psychology in education at the University of Pittsburgh School of Education and research scientist at the University of Pittsburgh’s Learning Research & Development Center.

Laura W. Perna , professor of education and executive director of the Alliance for Higher Education and Democracy, University of Pennsylvania.

Hosung Sohn , assistant professor in the School of Public Service at Chung- Ang Unuiversity.

*Dropped out of race since publication date.

If you’re interested in free-college and tuition-free programs, please check out our tip sheet featuring University of Pennsylvania professor Laura W. Perna. She offers five tips to help journalists improve their coverage of the issue .

This image was obtained from the Flickr account of Truckee Meadows Community College and is being used under a  Creative Commons license . No changes were made.

About The Author

Denise-Marie Ordway

What Does Free College Really Mean?

• Posted January 17, 2017
• By Casey Bayer

Free college sounds great as an idea, but how do states actually finance it?

Most states propose to fund free college plans as “last-dollar” scholarships. This means that the state commits to covering unmet financial aid after all other eligible funds — such as the federal Pell grant — are exhausted. Additionally, most plans cover tuition and fees but not additional expenses such as room and board or textbooks.

This “last-dollar” approach helps keeps program costs low, but it is only possible because of the generosity of existing financial aid programs.

Why is free college appealing from a state’s perspective?

College is expensive, and the process of applying for and receiving financial is complicated and stressful. Many families do not realize that they will likely pay only a fraction of the sticker price of college. In contrast to the byzantine system of federal and state financial aid programs, free college is a very easy concept to understand.

The political appeal is obvious as well. Nearly all families want their children to attend college, yet they are deeply concerned about whether they can afford it. Policymakers who commit to providing “free college” are easing the minds of their constituents, even those who have very young children and thus are many years away from the actual expense.

What are some of the concerns around free college tuition plans?

I support the goal of free college. More than ever, a college degree is a ticket to the middle class. The question is how to get there.

One concern — raised by others such as Matt Chingos at the Urban Institute — is that most of the benefits of free college plans accrue to higher-income families. The reason goes back again to the “last dollar” design. Low-income students already receive a lot of need-based financial aid from the federal government. Many states also already have need-based aid programs. The additional value of a last dollar scholarship is relatively low for these students — they are already paying close to zero in tuition and fees. In contrast, families that make too much money to be eligible for need-based programs will see a much larger price reduction from free college. This is not a bad thing! College is a financial burden for nearly every family. But it is worth clarifying that the biggest beneficiaries of free college plans are usually middle-class families.

A second more fundamental concern is about the single-minded focus on costs. The value of a college degree depends on its price, but also on the quality of the education itself — the benefits as well as the costs. My main concern with free college plans is that focusing solely on college costs will push us toward an outcome where college is cheap but also relatively low quality. If you lower the price of college to zero, you are going to get a lot more students enrolling. Absent significant increases in state funding for higher education, the same pool of resources will then be spread across many more students. This could lead to larger classes, less guidance and mentoring, and a generally lower quality experience. It is not at all clear that lower prices and lower levels of spending will be a good thing overall for students.

It sounds like you are saying that prices don’t matter.

Not at all. Lower prices are always better from the student’s perspective! On the other hand, state higher education budgets are under enormous pressure. My concern is that states will pay for “free college” by cutting the subsidies that they currently send directly to the public colleges in the state. This raises the question: Is it better to subsidize education on the supply side (by funding public institutions out of tax revenues) or on the demand side (by giving financial aid to students directly)?

Let me make this very specific. Every public college in the U.S. currently spends more on a student’s education than they charge in tuition. For example, a public university might charge $10,000 per year in tuition and fees but actually spend $20,000 per student. The difference comes mostly from subsidies — called appropriations — coming directly from state taxpayers through the legislature. Suppose an extra $1,000 per student suddenly becomes available. The university has two choices. First, they can pass that $1,000 on to the student as a price reduction — charging $9,000 per year and still spending $20,000. Alternatively, they can keep the price at $10,000 but now spend $21,000 per student, with the extra money going to things like smaller classes, more student advising and mentoring, or perhaps climbing walls and nap pods.

Which choice will do more to help a student complete their college degree? Free college — and most of the existing federal financial aid system — assumes that price reduction is most important. But a growing body of work — including a recent paper I’ve written with Chris Walters — suggests that spending may be a more important factor for degree attainment.

We see this is a recent study of the Adams scholarship in Massachusetts. The Adams scholarship provided four years of tuition and fees in a Massachusetts public college or university to students who met a minimum MCAS score standard. The study found that these students took up the offer of “free college,” opting to attend a Massachusetts public institution instead of a private college. Strikingly, the authors found that students who took up the Adams scholarship were less likely to graduate from college. They show persuasively that this is due to differences in college quality. The private colleges had higher levels of per-student spending and higher graduation rates, but students were lured to lower quality public institutions by the offer of “free college.”

I am not saying that “free college” plans will lower graduation rates. In particular, there are many more high-quality private institutions in Massachusetts than elsewhere in the U.S. But this study underscores the perils of a singular focus on lowering costs. College quality matters, and public policy ought to focus equally on improving and maintaining quality so that more students can ultimately earn a degree and go on to succeed in the labor market and in life.

The latest research, perspectives, and highlights from the Harvard Graduate School of Education

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A Guarantee of Tuition-Free College Can Have Life-Changing Effects

A mailer sent to low-income students with that promise led to a major jump in enrollment at the University of Michigan, according to a new study.

Highly selective colleges have long struggled with racial and economic diversity. At 38 such institutions in the United States , more students come from households in the top 1 percent than from those in the bottom 60 percent. That is in part due to who applies to the universities: Many high-achieving students from a low-income or minority background don’t think they can get in to a prestigious institution, let alone pay for it—despite the fact that many such colleges have generous financial-aid packages—so they end up not applying.

A new study , however, found that a few extra dollars on a university’s part might go a long way in terms of changing that calculus for low-income students. The working paper, published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, examined the effects of a targeted-outreach campaign for low-income students at the University of Michigan.

Read: The missing black students at elite American universities

The campaign, known as the High Achieving Involved Leader ( HAIL ) Scholarship, encourages highly qualified, low-income students to apply to the university, promising them four years of education free of tuition and fees. Students are sent a personalized mailing with all of the information, which costs the university less than $10 each to produce and send out; the students’ parents and school principals are also contacted separately. And the offer of free tuition isn’t contingent upon filling out financial-aid forms such as the Free Application for Federal Student Aid ( FAFSA ).

The researchers, led by the University of Michigan economist Susan Dynarski, found “very large effects of the HAIL scholarship offer on application and enrollment rates at the University of Michigan and more generally on college choice.” Students who received the mailing were more than twice as likely to apply to the University of Michigan compared with a control group. The percentage of low-income students enrolling at the university more than doubled as well—from 13 percent in the control group to 28 percent in the group of students who received the mailer.

The HAIL Scholarship is a new program, but even without it the students would likely have been able to attend the University of Michigan free of charge—90 percent of similarly situated high-achieving, low-income students receive full-tuition scholarships. But HAIL makes that fact explicit: It isn’t that students can apply and have the chance to afford the college—if they apply and are accepted, it is guaranteed .

The study shows one way to tackle the phenomenon known as “ undermatching ,” which is when high-achieving students don’t attend the most selective college they could get into. It’s something researchers have studied and worried about for several years now, since it tends to occur most frequently among low-income students. While it has been argued that there’s too much attention being focused on getting low-income students into a small number of elite colleges, as I’ve previously written, students who undermatch are less likely to graduate than their peers who don’t, and they forgo a range of social benefits accrued from attending an elite college.

Read: When disadvantaged students overlook elite colleges

In some cases, the students enrolling at Michigan wouldn’t have gone to college at all had they not had been contacted. “One-quarter of the enrollment effect (four percentage points) is driven by students who would not have attended any college in the absence of the treatment,” the authors of the report wrote. “The balance would have attended a community college or a less selective four-year college in the absence of the treatment.”

For the researchers, the next step in evaluating the program is to track its effects on students’ choice of major, graduation rates, and, in the long term, lifetime earnings. But for now, the results “show that a low-cost, low-touch intervention can strongly affect student application and enrollment at selective colleges.”

This is the second study in the past week showing the positive effects of a guarantee for low-income and minority students. A study published by the American Educational Research Association found that undermatching is reduced when low-income students know that their admission is ensured through state policy. The study examined the University of Texas system and its “top 10 percent plan,” which guarantees admission to students in the top 10 percent of their high-school class.

In both the Michigan and Texas studies, the students were given clear information that going to college—and to an elite college, at that—was a real possibility. As Kalena Cortes, an associate professor at Texas A&M and one of the Texas study’s authors, said , “Demystifying college-admissions policy is a pathway to greater inclusion.”

Free College – Top 3 Pros and Cons

Pro/Con Arguments | Discussion Questions | Take Action | Sources | More Debates

Free  college  programs come in different forms but generally refer to the government picking up the tab for tuition costs, while students pay for other expenses such as room and board.  [ 50 ]  

32 states and DC have some variation of free college programs. 9 states have statewide programs with “few eligibility limits,” while 23 have “[s]tate sponsored free college tuition programs with income, merit, geographical or programmatic limitations.” 18 states have no free college programs. [ 51 ] [ 52 ]

Tuition at public four-year institutions rose more than 31% between 2010 and 2020. When adjusted for inflation, college tuition has risen 747.8% since 1963. The average student loan debt more than doubled from the 1990s to the 2010s, according to the US Department of Education . About 16.8 million undergraduate students were projected to be enrolled in college in 2022, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. [ 29 ] [ 53 ] [ 54 ]

College tuition is set by state policy or by each individual institution. Some colleges, especially federal land grant schools, had free tuition beginning in the 1860s. And some states had tuition-free policies at state colleges and universities for in-state students well into the twentieth century. According to Ronald Gordon Ehrenberg, Professor at Cornell University, “Public colleges and universities were often free at their founding in the United States, but over time, as public support was reduced or not increased sufficiently to compensate for their growth in students and costs (faculty and staff salaries, utilities etc.), they moved first to a low tuition and eventually higher tuition policy. About 2.9% of American 18- to 24-year olds went to college for the 1909-1910 school year, compared to 40% in 2020. [ 37 ] [ 38 ] [ 39 ] [ 55 ]

At the national level, free college programs have been in effect for military personnel since the 1944 GI Bill . At least 26 other countries have free or nearly free college tuition: Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Kenya, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Norway, Panama, Poland, Scotland, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, and Uruguay. [ 7 ] [ 8 ] [ 9 ] [ 42 ] [ 43 ] [ 44 ]

According to the 2022 Education Next Survey of Public Opinion, 63% of Americans supported free 4-year college and 66% supported free 2-year college. [ 56 ]

Should Public College Be Tuition-Free?

Pro 1 Tuition-free college will help decrease crippling student debt. If tuition is free, students will take on significantly fewer student loans. Student loan debt in the United States is almost $1.75 trillion. 45 million Americans have student loan debt, and 7.5 million of those borrowers are in default. The average 2019 graduate owed $28,950 in college loans. Approximately 92% of US student loans are owned by the US Department of Education. [ 57] Student loan debt rose 317% between 1970 and 2021, and public college costs rose 180% between 1980 and 2019. Students are coming out of college already buried under a mountain of debt before they have a chance to start their careers. [ 58] [ 59] Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), an advocate for free college, stated, “It is insane and counter-productive to the best interests of our country and our future, that hundreds of thousands of bright young people cannot afford to go to college, and that millions of others leave school with a mountain of debt that burdens them for decades. That shortsighted path to the future must end.” [ 6] Read More

Pro 2 The US economy and society has benefited from tuition-free college in the past. Nearly half of all college students in 1947 were military veterans, thanks to President Roosevelt signing the GI Bill in 1944 to ensure military service members, veterans, and their dependents could attend college tuition-free. The GI Bill allowed 2.2 million veterans to earn a college education, and another 5.6 million to receive vocational training, all of which helped expand the middle class. An estimated 40% of those veterans would not have been able to attend college otherwise. GI Bill recipients generated an extra $35.6 billion over 35 years and an extra $12.8 billion in tax revenue, resulting in a return of $6.90 for every dollar spent. [ 7 ] [ 8 ] [ 9] [ 10 ] The beneficiaries of the free tuition contributed to the economy by buying cars and homes, and getting jobs after college, while not being burdened by college debt. They contributed to society with higher levels of volunteering, voting, and charitable giving. [ 11 ] The 1944 GI Bill paid for the educations of 22,000 dentists, 67,000 doctors, 91,000 scientists, 238,000 teachers, 240,000 accountants, 450,000 engineers, three Supreme Court Justices (Rehnquist, Stevens, and White), three presidents (Nixon, Ford, and H.W. Bush), many congressmen, at least one Secretary of State, 14 Nobel Prize winners, at least 24 Pulitzer Prize winners, many entertainers (including Johnny Cash, Paul Newman, and Clint Eastwood), and many more. [ 8 ] [ 12 ] [ 13 ] During the post-World War II era, the United States ranked first in the world for college graduates, compared to tenth today. [ 14 ] Read More

Pro 3 Everyone deserves the opportunity to get a college education. Jamie Merisotis, President and CEO of the Lumina Foundation, stated, “A dramatic increase in the number of Americans with college credentials is absolutely essential for our economic, social and cultural development as a country.” [ 15 ] The rapid rise of tuition has limited access to higher education, which is essential in today’s workforce: three-quarters of the fastest-growing occupations now call for education beyond high school, according to the US Department of Education. College graduates earn $570,000 more than a high school graduate over a lifetime, on average, and they have lower unemployment rates. Students from low- and moderate-income families are unable to afford as many as 95% of American colleges. [ 16] [ 17] [ 29] [ 30] Max Page, Professor of Architecture, and Dan Clawson, Professor of Sociology, both at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, stated: “A century ago high school was becoming a necessity, not a luxury; today the same is happening to college. If college is essential for building a career and being a full participant in our democracy as high school once was, shouldn’t it be free, paid for by public dollars, and treated as a right of all members of our country?” [ 21 ] Read More

Con 1 Tuition-free college is not free college and students will still have large debts. Tuition is only one expense college students have to pay and accounts for anywhere from 28.9% to 73.6% of total average college costs. [ 60] On average, 2021-2022 in-state tuition at a 4-year public college cost $10,740 per year. Fees, room, and board for on-campus housing are another $11,950 . Books and supplies are another $1,240, transportation another $1,230, and other expenses cost another $2,170. Without tuition, college still costs an average of $16,590 per year. [ 60 ] Tuition accounts for just 20% of the average community college student’s budget, which runs $18,830 annually on average. [ 60 ] Sweden has free college and yet students in that country had an average of $19,000 in student debt for living costs and other expenses in 2013, compared to the $24,800 in debt US college students had the same year. [ 24 ] [ 1 ] Read More

Con 2 Taxpayers would spend billions to subsidize tuition, while other college costs remained high. The estimated cost of Bernie Sanders’ free college program was $47 billion per year, and had states paying 33% of the cost, or $15.5 billion. According to David H. Feldman and Robert B. Archibald, both Professors of Economics at William & Mary College: “This will require tax increases, or it will force states to move existing resources into higher education and away from other state priorities like health care, prisons, roads and K-12 education.” [ 25 ] [ 26 ] According to a 2016 Campaign for Free College report, states could lose between $77 million (Wyoming) and $5 billion (California) in tuition revenue from their state colleges and universities, and have to pay an additional $15,000 (Wyoming) to $55 million (New York) to subsidize a tuition-free plan. [ 27 ] Neal McCluskey, Director of the Cato Institute’s Center for Educational Freedom, calculated that free college funded by tax dollars would cost every adult taxpayer $1,360 a year, or $77,500 over a lifetime. “Why should people who want to go to college get it paid for in part by people who pursue on-the-job training or other forms of noncollege education?,” he wrote in the Wall Street Journal , adding, “Indeed, why should anyone get a degree to increase their lifetime earnings on the backs of taxpayers?” [ 28 ] College costs have increased for of a number of reasons unrelated to tuition, including fancy dorms, amenities like lazy rivers and climbing walls, student services (such as healthcare), athletics, increases in administrative personnel, and cuts in state funding. [ 31 ] [ 32 ] [ 33 ] [ 46] Read More

Con 3 Tuition-free college will decrease completion rates, leaving students without the benefits of a full college education and degree. Jack A. Chambless, Economics Professor at Valencia College, said that with a free college program, “Potentially millions of young people who have no business attending college would waste their time — and taxpayer dollars — seeking degrees they will not obtain… Free tuition would dupe young people into a sense of belonging, only to find that their work ethic, intelligence and aptitude are not up to the rigors of advanced education.” [ 34 ] Under California’s community college fee waiver program, over 50% of the state’s community college students attended for free (before a 2017 program change), but only 6% of all California community college students completed a career technical program and fewer than 10% completed a two-year degree in six years. [ 35 ] Vince Norton, Managing Partner at Norton Norris, a campus marketing company, stated, “Students will enroll at a ‘free college’ and borrow money for the cost of attendance. Then, they will drop out and have a student loan – but no skills. Brilliant.” [ 36 ] Read More

Discussion Questions

1. Should college tuition be free? For which colleges/universities? Explain your answers.

2. Brainstorm potential pros and cons of free college for individual students.

3. How would free college benefit (or disadvantage) college communities? Explain your answer(s).

Take Action

1. Analyze the goals of the Campaign for Free College Tuition .

2. Explore US News’ list of 16 colleges that do not charge tuition.

3. Consider Michael Poliakoff’s position that free college could raise tuition costs.

4. Consider how you felt about the issue before reading this article. After reading the pros and cons on this topic, has your thinking changed? If so, how? List two to three ways. If your thoughts have not changed, list two to three ways your better understanding of the “other side of the issue” now helps you better argue your position.

5. Push for the position and policies you support by writing US national senators and representatives .

More College Debate Topics

Is a College Education Worth It? – Proponents of college education say college graduates make more money. Opponents say student loan debt is crippling for college graduates.

Should Student Loan Debt Be Eliminated via Forgiveness or Bankruptcy? – Proponents say debt forgiveness would boost the economy. Opponents say people must be held responsible for their personal economic choices.

Should Colleges and Universities Pay College Athletes? – Proponents say colleges profit unfairly off of the athletes. Opponents say the athletes are paid in tuition.

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Argumentative Essay: Free Education

The USA doesn’t have free education for students, at least at the higher levels. Much has been made about increasing levels of debt. Some people have even called for the introduction of free education. This would be a major mistake. It would decrease personal freedoms for much of the general population, reduce quality, and send the wrong message to students. This essay will explain why.

Firstly, someone has to pay for education. It’s physically impossible to deliver quality education while charging students nothing. Someone has to pay for it. If it isn’t students taking care of their responsibilities, it’s taxpayers who already pay for the substantial grants and scholarships awarded to students every year. It’s wrong to place this burden on the general population for a decision entirely resting on the individual’s shoulders.

Making education free would mean the money has to be found from elsewhere. The only options available to the government would be to raise taxes or cut services elsewhere. It’s no fairer to cut other vital services than it is to make students pay for education. It doesn’t solve the problem, it only shifts the problem onto another part of the population.

Increasing taxes to pay for education reduces personal freedoms. Economic freedom directly correlates with personal freedoms. By cutting disposable income through the raising of taxes, it reduces the options available for families across the country. Arguably, it’s selfish to do this because a minority group decides to go into higher education.

Some would argue making education free would open up colleges and universities to a greater number of students. This isn’t the case. Although education isn’t free now, this in no way means people are prohibited from entering higher education. Grants awarding achievement already exist for the best students. Furthermore, the vast majority of students can already receive student loans to pay for tuition and maintenance. There are no barriers to students entering higher education even without a free tuition system.

With the current student loan system, lenders are far more forgiving and the repayments are much lower than a conventional loan. The system already allows students to climb up the career ladder before they start to pay back significant amounts.

Cutting fees would also make it more difficult to continue to improve the standard of education within schools and colleges. If these institutions can’t make a profit from charging their students, they can only make enough to cover their maintenance costs. They can’t invest in themselves and boost standards. This would only lead to the continuing decline of American higher education facilities and make the country less attractive for international students.

Overall, it’s important to make students understand they have responsibilities and the onus rests on them to take care of these responsibilities. It’s wrong to place the burdens of others onto the general population. Cutting fees would bring benefits to students who don’t have to pay for their own education, but it would only lead to the general decline of the facilities they study at.

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An argument against free community college tuition.

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Seventeen states in the U.S. now offer free community college tuition, and existing programs cover tuition for many students. But President Biden wants to make that happen nationwide. This week we'll explore both sides of the debate over free community college and Biden's plan, beginning with former U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, who joins Judy Woodruff to discuss.

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Judy Woodruff:

Now to the debate over providing free tuition for community college.

Seventeen states already do so, and existing programs cover tuition for many students. but President Biden wants to make that happen nationwide. His plan starts with $109 billion to cover full tuition for community college. States would be asked to match a dollar for every three allocated in federal money.

His plan also includes an $85 billion investment in Pell Grants for students in need at both two- and four-year colleges. And there's another $62 billion for resources to help students complete their degree, money for transportation and tutoring, for example.

We are going to get different takes over the next two nights for our series on Rethinking College.

To begin, I'm joined by Margaret Spellings, the former U.S. secretary of education under President George W. Bush, and the former head of the University of North Carolina system. She's now president and CEO of Texas 2036. It's a policy group to make Texas successful after its bicentennial.

Margaret Spellings, welcome back to the "NewsHour."

Thank you for joining us.

I'm looking at something that President Biden said when he was making this proposal. He said: "It's not enough to restore where we were before the pandemic. We need to build a stronger economy that does not leave anyone behind."

What about that rationale for this?

Margaret Spellings:

Well, it makes all the sense in the world.

And I commend him really for investing in American higher education. We know that most of the jobs of today and certainly the future require higher levels of education. And, right now, we're following — falling woefully short of having all our people with the skills needed to really access the economy.

So, at the top line, I really commend that goal.

Well, let me just go beyond that, then, because what the president has pointed out and the people who advocate for this point out is, the people who have most benefited from community college are people at the lower income scale, people who haven't had the opportunity.

In other words, it's a way to target those individuals who had the least opportunity in the past, as an argument for putting this kind of money into it.

Well, and we know that so many of our — the majority of our community college students really are taking remedial education, levels of basic literacy and math that should have been learned in high school.

And so, sadly, our completion rates towards an associate's degree or to something, really a meaningful credential, are not very encouraging at community colleges. And when students are well-matched, they really do better in comprehensive universities, like our minority-serving institutions, HBCUs.

So, to me, I'm a fan of the Pell Grant. I think one of the greatest assets of American higher education is for the ability for a student to take that purchases power to a place that suits them. And, certainly, that can be a community college, but isn't necessarily.

But the question is, why not go ahead and give these individuals who — I looked at a number — it's something like 94 percent of total family income, on average, has gone toward education for the most disadvantaged students.

Why not direct the money to who need it the most?

Well, because I think, often, they're going to be better off with a comprehensive university, like an HBCU. They're going to be on track to complete and they will have a trajectory into a livelihood and, frankly, often doesn't exist when students are educated in community colleges.

Too many of our students in community colleges are taking what we call basic education, which is really kind of literacy and math, not that they don't need that, but, really, it's we need to empower consumers with information and purchasing power to go where they see fit, including community colleges.

Well, the administration has shared with us a number of studies that show this kind of outside financial aid does help these students toward completing their two-year degree.

So, this would be a way of at least — for those students who can't go, for whatever reason, to a historically Black college, which you have mentioned, or to another four-year institution, at least this gets them off to a solid beginning.

And that's why 17 states, as you rightly say, have invested in that.

But there's also states who have invested in additional supports for four-year institutions, for technical schools, for other types of institutions. So, I think, in terms of bipartisan support, I think there will be a lot of support for the Pell Grant. That will obviously inure to the benefit of community colleges and to families.

But let's be agnostic about the kinds of places that students might select, adult learners, those who are going straight from high school, to really chart their own path. What we really need is information as well for students to really understand, what are they getting in those community colleges? Are they a ticket to a good job or not?

Is your argument that it's a waste of money?

No, not at all.

My argument is, let's give students financial support, especially those who need it the most, through a Pell Grant, and allow them to chart a path to their own — around their own needs, including community colleges.

But let's not limit it to community colleges.

Well, as we reported, there's a lively debate around this — around this issue. And we're so grateful to you, Margaret Spellings, for joining us.

Thank you very much.

Thanks, Judy.

And, tomorrow night, we will hear the case for providing free community college. That will come from another former secretary of education, John King, who served under President Obama.

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Students, Parents and Voters Agree—Higher Ed Costs Too Much

Americans still believe in the power of a college degree, but the sticker shock of tuition and fees causes many to doubt the economic value, reducing access.

By  Ashley Mowreader

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While most people believe in the value of postsecondary education, high costs limit access and create doubt on the return on investment.

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Higher education’s value has come under public scrutiny in recent years, with fewer U.S. adults confident in the benefits of a college degree.

“For voters and people who are interested in pursuing and want to pursue a higher education—we’ve spent many years asking them that exact question: how do you define value? And overwhelmingly, not to oversimplify, but it is primarily economic,” said Angela Kuefler, a partner at Global Strategy Group, at a panel discussion at Third Way’s Value in Higher Ed Summit .

When evaluated further, a sticking point for most Americans is they don’t believe higher education is worth the cost students are paying—or the debt they’re accruing—compared to the salaries they’re earning. New data from Pew Research Center, released May 24 , finds almost half (47 percent) of Americans only believe college is worth it if students don’t take out loans.

A recent Student Voice survey by Inside Higher Ed , conducted by Generation Lab, found the majority of students believe their education has value but only 7 percent agree higher education institutions, in general, offer good value for what they charge for an undergraduate degree.

A college degree still holds its historic value in boosting a young person’s earnings, and those with a degree are less likely to be in poverty, but high costs of entry prove a barrier to access and enrollment for many.

Rising costs. Almost seven in 10 (69 percent) Student Voice respondents say higher education institutions in general charge too much for an undergraduate education.

The cost of higher education has steadily increased over the past decade across nonprofit institutions, according to data from the National Center for Education Statistics. In 2023–24, the average published tuition and fees for full-time students at a public four-year in-state institution was $11,260, 2.5 percent higher year-over-year before adjusting for inflation. A private nonprofit four-year institution averaged $41,540, 4 percent higher year-over-year before inflation.

A Brookings Institute evaluation of colleges’ posted costs versus actual cost students pay is much lower, depending on a family’s annual income, though still rising. However, four in 10 Student Voice survey respondents say their institution’s sticker price is too high.

Additionally, 38 percent of respondents say the general public underestimates the actual price of college. A Gallup-Lumina Foundation survey found only 23 percent of adults without degrees could guess the cost of a bachelor’s degree within $5,000 of its price tag , highlighting a lack of transparency around costs of higher ed.

Who’s paying for it? When confronted with this high price, many students say they turn to loans to pay for their degree, which can leave them in debt and reduce their total earnings after graduating, hurting the overall return on investment.

High school students considering their plans after graduation say they worry about how they will pay for college (62 percent) and 45 percent plan to take out student loans, according to ECMC Group data from this past summer.

A 2023 survey from College Ave Student Loans found 46 percent of current students say they’re going to use federal student loans to pay for college and 20 percent are going to use private student loans.

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In 2023, 70 percent of parents with college-bound children said they worry about having enough money to pay for college, a 4 percentage-point increase compared to the year prior, according to a poll from Discover Card. The number of parents who say they will pay for all of their child’s education (27 percent) is also on the decline (39 percent in 2022).

Families of traditional-aged students are also wary of the high price. Parents say college is necessary to find a good job (73 percent), but nearly half (46 percent) say they question whether it’s still a good investment, many (68 percent) are concerned about student debt compared to post-college earnings.

Buck stops here: High costs also limit access for students and determine which institution they’ll enroll in, or if they enroll at all.

A September 2023 Spark451 poll found 30 percent of parents said their child would have attended a different college if money was not a factor. Over half of high school students ruled out a college or university because of the cost and the majority of students rank cost as among the most important factors in their enrollment decision, alongside academic quality and availability of majors.

“Some of the best data tells us unequivocally, higher education is going to leave you better off economically,” Julie Ajinkya, senior adviser at HCM Strategists said at Third Way’s summit. “It’s hard for myself as an individual to really understand what a million dollars over the course of a lifetime means, whereas immediately, I know I have certain bills, I know that I have to worry about housing and other basic needs.”

The Gallup-Lumina Foundation study found, among students who would enroll in college, the same number of respondents (53 percent) say financial aid and scholarship is just as important as their confidence in the value of the degree and credential (53 percent).

“It goes back to this idea of needing very, very clearly articulated connections between the courses you’re going to take and the potential jobs and careers that you could end up with,” Ajinkya said.

Working individuals say the cost of tuition (56 percent) is what prevents them from pursuing additional education, seeing more value in credentials than a four-year degree.

Institutional leaders are noting current students have tightened their purse strings as well. Colleges reported an increase in students and families filing requests to adjust their financial aid eligibility during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has since leveled off.

The Trellis Strategies fall 2023 student wellness survey found 71 percent of college students report experiencing financial difficulties or challenges while in college. Among currently enrolled students who have considered stopping out, 31 percent cite cost as a reason.

Is it worth it? Overwhelmingly, polling finds a majority of people believe in the value of some postsecondary education.

• Student Voice—83 percent of students say the value of their college is somewhat or highly valuable, considering their learning and future benefit versus the cost of attendance.
• Gallup and the Lumina Foundation— 71 percent of bachelor’s degree students strongly agree or agree that the degree they’re receiving is worth the cost.
• Third Way— 80 percent of voters say a four-year college degree is valuable.
• CollegeAve— Eight in 10 students say a college degree is crucial for their future.

On a fiscal level, research shows that the average college degree program does produce a financial return on investment. The Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP) found 83 institutions, who represent 93 percent of students, receive a minimum economic economic return on investment within 10 years of starting college.

But whether a four-year degree is the most valuable investment a student could make remains up for debate. Four in 10 Pew respondents say it’s not too or not at all important to have a four-year college degree in order to get a well-paying job in today’s economy, and half say it’s less important to have a four-year degree to get a well-paying job today than it was 20 years ago.

So what? For higher education leaders, understanding the concerns students hold in pursuing higher education can help in addressing them and making sure students get their return on investment.

Career pathways can be one way to connect students to tangible goals they can aspire to and help them see how their education connects to their lives beyond, Ajinkya said.

Promoting career services, along with scholarships, can also address concerns for potential students, Kuefler said.

Demystifying the admissions process can also help students feel more confident in their decisions. “As students are applying to college, they feel like outsiders in the process, everything just feels super-secret and vague, almost like it was designed to confuse you,” Ajinkya said. “Until we clarify that whole process, and help students understand what it actually takes, what it will cost, we’re going to see a lot of confusion.”

We bet your colleague would like this article, too. Send them this link to subscribe to our weekday newsletter on Student Success.

This article has been updated to correct the attribution of a statistic by CollegeAve and the measurement of ROI by the Institute for Higher Education Policy.

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Why College Should be Free Essay

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Topic: Should a college or university education be tuition free essay

College tuition fees have been on the rise in the last couple of years. Now many jobs require a college degree which makes it hard for those without higher education. The higher somebody goes in their education the easier it is to get almost any job they want. College education has become a necessity in today’s society and rising tuition fees are putting a college education out of reach for some students. The first two years of college should be provided and funded by the U.S. government because it will encourage students to achieve their college education without looking at college as such a financial obstacle.

Today the cost of attending a public university or community college is so high that most students simply cannot afford it. As a result, the federal government continues to offer financial aid and Pell grants to lower-income families. Student loans are also available and are known as the most dominant source of financial aid. “During the 2012-2013 school year alone, about 10 million college students took out loans and in 2015, the total amount of student loan debt in America was estimated to be about $1.3 trillion.” This just goes to show that even though some students are getting financial aid help to go to school, there is always a fee to pay out of pocket.

Should College be free Essay

Today’s society more and more jobs are requiring specific technical requirements or a college degree. Free college would expand higher educational benefits such as jobs and higher pay as opposed to those with little to no college background. Recovery magazine believes “By 2020, 65 percent of all jobs in the economy will require post-secondary education and training beyond high school.” (Carnavale, Smith, Strohl. pg 3) free college tuition will give so many students an equal opportunity to achieve their goals no matter if it’s just an associates degree or a doctoral degree. Achieving a college degree can not only be a life long achievement but can better their future and open doors to better job opportunities.

Of course, not everyone agrees with free college. Some argue that calling something free doesn’t make it free. Public education is funded by taxpayers and free college means higher taxes. With college tuition being so-called “free” it will attract students who are unfit for the college environment and will eventually drop out which means taxes will go up for taxpayers whether they have kids attending college or not. Some agree that college should not be free since some students will be unmotivated, lazy or unconcerned about their education. Students who are going to college are going to get their profession and will eventually be able to pay off their student debts. General taxpayers believe if a student’s desire is to attend college, then they will do whatever it takes to receive financial aid assistance. With college not being free, this is no way means students can’t receive financial aid help such as scholarships, federal Pell grand or even student loans. Overall it is important to make students understand their responsibilities in life and its wrong to place the burden of paying for their free education on the general population.

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That Giant College ‘Sticker’ Price Isn’t What Most Students Pay

The share of those paying the full advertised cost has declined over the last couple of decades, a new report found. Yet many don’t understand how much they’ll really pay.

By Ann Carrns

Families with college-bound students may well have shuddered when they heard that the official, full cost of a year at some four-year private schools will soon hit six figures .

But outrage over mushrooming college “sticker” prices clouds a reality that some families may not fully understand: Few students pay the full price. That’s because colleges give financial aid to income-eligible students and merit aid — in the form of scholarships or tuition discounts — to more affluent families that may be able to pay the full price but may balk at doing so.

On average, private nonprofit colleges cut tuition by more than half for first-time undergraduates, according to a recent report from the National Association of College and University Business Officers.

That means college sticker prices — the full “cost of attendance” that the federal government requires colleges to publish — are an increasingly unreliable indicator of what a family will pay, according to a report titled, in part, “Ignore the Sticker Price,” and published Friday by the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank. That goes for both low- and middle-income families, as well as for higher-income families that don’t qualify for need-based aid.

“Our current system of setting and communicating college prices simply does not work,” wrote the author of the report, Phillip Levine, an economics professor at Wellesley College and a nonresident senior fellow at Brookings. He analyzed federal data to track changes in college pricing for students at different income levels.

“We cannot expect students to make sound decisions regarding educational investments if they do not understand how much college will actually cost them,” he added.

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'We made a promise': City to extend Columbus Promise tuition-free college program

Jauronika Armstrong wasn't sure she was cut out for college.

The 19-year-old Fort Hayes Metropolitan Education Center graduate didn't think she was smart enough to get accepted to, let alone succeed at, college. She thought going straight to work after high school would be her best bet.

It wasn't until one of her teachers told her about the Columbus Promise , a new tuition-free college partnership between the city, Columbus City Schools, Columbus State Community College and I Know I Can. Participating students could use the Columbus Promise to pay for all associate degree programs at Columbus State, as well as most certificate programs, for up to six semesters.

Armstrong applied with a "why not?" attitude, she said. "I wouldn't be wasting any money if it didn't work out. Now, dropping out isn't an option."

A year into the Columbus Promise and Armstrong is now a rising Columbus State sophomore studying communications. Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin said at a news conference Thursday morning at Columbus State that students like Armstrong are the best the city has to offer and the motivation behind Columbus Promise.

With one year left of the tuition-free college program's three-year pilot, Hardin and education leaders across the city officially announced that the Columbus Promise is here to stay.

"What I want everyone to know is that we've heard loud and clear from community members, parents and scholars that the program needs to continue and expand," Hardin said. "We made a promise, and we're keeping it."

In November 2021, city officials introduced the Columbus Promise with a two-fold mission: increase college-going among Columbus City Schools graduates and meet the region's growing need for a skilled workforce.

The program allows any Columbus City Schools graduate to attend Columbus State for free. It is a last-dollar scholarship, meaning it pays for any costs not covered by other aid like federal Pell Grants, and students receive a $500 stipend per semester. They also receive dedicated coaching and academic support.

More: Columbus Promise off to strong start as hundreds of Columbus City Schools grads take part

The program is funded through a public-private partnership, with $4 million seeded by the city and nearly $5 million matched by more than 20 other public entities, philanthropic and individual donors.

While exact details are still being determined as to what Columbus Promise will look like moving forward, the initial data coming out of the program has been encouraging enough to keep it going.

"This pilot has proven to be a huge success in giving Columbus students who never thought college was possible an opportunity to thrive," Columbus City Schools Superintendent Angela Chapman said.

Report: Columbus Promise made college possible for more students

As part of the pilot, Columbus Promise is evaluated by researchers at the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, a private, not-for-profit, nonpartisan, independent research group based in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Michelle Miller-Adams, a senior researcher with the institute and a professor at Grand Valley State University in Michigan, said the institute has been studying Promise programs, also called place-based scholarships, for nearly two decades. Miller-Adams and researchers Kevin Hollenbeck, Bridget Timmeney and Kyle Huisman published an extensive evaluation of the Columbus Promise's first year and a brief update on year two as they collect more data.

The results, researchers and officials said, were greater than they could've expected.

The inaugural group of Columbus Promise students totaled 793 in its first year — more than double the number of Columbus City Schools students who graduated and directly enrolled at Columbus State in 2021.

College-going among Columbus City Schools graduates has jumped from 34% with the pandemic class of 2021 to 50% for the class of 2023.

Columbus Promise is also widening the college pipeline. About 80% of enrolled students were Pell eligible, about 80% for whom race was known identified as non-white, and more than half were first-generation college students.

Hardin said the Columbus Promise prides itself on "radical inclusivity" of applicants. There is no minimum GPA to apply. Undocumented students can partake. Participants don't have to enroll full-time, and the scholarship applies to certificate programs, too.

The program has also attracted a number of students for whom college was not a plan or an option before Columbus Promise. More than two-thirds of Columbus Promise students have needed to take below-college-level math or English courses, compared to 57% of enrolled Columbus City Schools students in 2021.

Retention between fall and spring semesters has also increased from 69% to 75%.

The mid-year report found that students enrolled in fall 2023 did exceptionally well academically compared to the 2022 Columbus Promise cohort and non-program students in 2021. This most recent cohort on average had lower high-school academic achievement, according to the report, but their college academic outcomes were better than the previous cohort.

Researchers were also pleased that, unlike some other promise programs, the barriers to entry into Columbus Promise are low.

All students have to do to participate is graduate high school, apply for the Columbus Promise scholarship, complete an application to Columbus State and fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, better known as FAFSA. To remain eligible, students must be enrolled at least part-time and maintain a 2.0 GPA.

What's next for Columbus Promise?

More than 850 Columbus City Schools students have already applied for this coming fall semester.

Researchers recommended several potential changes for stakeholders to consider looking forward.

Some of their ideas include being more proactive in offering tutoring and academic advising, creating a Columbus Promise-specific college orientation session, creating more community among students, and shifting more resources to Columbus City Schools to prepare students for college.

Hardin said he hopes that phase two of the Columbus Promise will "expand the runway" so more students can take advantage of the scholarship. That might mean adding in other K-12 districts, partnering with more colleges and eventually including adult learners.

What he wants most, he said, is for students to see themselves in this program.

"I want 6th, 7th and 8th graders talking about the Columbus Promise," Hardin said. "When we dream, we are dreaming of a program that truly supports all of our residents."

Sheridan Hendrix is a higher education reporter for The Columbus Dispatch. Sign up for Extra Credit, her education newsletter,  here .

[email protected]

@sheridan120

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Alleviating college costs through scholarships The cost of higher education is a significant concern for many families. With tuition fees, accommodation costs, and other expenses, the financial burden can be overwhelming. However, there are ways...

By Jeff Rose Jun 17, 2024

This story originally appeared on Due

The cost of higher education is a significant concern for many families. With tuition fees, accommodation costs, and other expenses, the financial burden can be overwhelming. However, there are ways to alleviate this burden, and one of the most effective methods is through scholarships and grants. These are essentially free money that does not need to be repaid, making them an attractive option for students and their families. This article will delve into the importance of scholarships and grants, how to apply for them, and highlight one such opportunity – the College Ave’s $5,000 No Essay Easy Enter Scholarship Giveaway.

Table of Contents

Understanding scholarships and grants

Scholarships and grants are financial aid that students do not have to pay back. They are typically awarded based on various criteria, including academic achievement, financial need, community service, and more. Scholarships are often sponsored by private organizations, colleges, and universities, while grants are usually government-funded.

View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Jeff Rose – CFP® – Finance (@jjeffrose)

The importance of scholarships and grants

As a certified financial planner , I cannot stress enough the importance of scholarships and grants. They can significantly reduce the financial burden of college education , allowing students to focus more on their studies and less on their finances. Moreover, they can also provide students with the opportunity to attend colleges that may have been financially out of reach.

Applying for scholarships and grants

The process of applying for scholarships and grants can be daunting, but it is a necessary step towards securing free money for college. Here are some tips to help you navigate the process:

1. Start Early: The earlier you start your search for scholarships and grants, the better. Some scholarships have early deadlines, and you don’t want to miss out on these opportunities.

2. Apply for as Many as You Qualify for: Don’t limit yourself to just one or two scholarships. Apply for as many as you qualify for to increase your chances of securing free money for college.

3. Be Thorough: Make sure to fill out all the necessary information and provide all the required documents. Incomplete applications can lead to disqualification.

4. Keep Track of Deadlines: Missing a deadline can cost you a scholarship. Keep a calendar or use an app to track all your application deadlines.

Highlighting the College Ave’s $5,000 No Essay Easy Enter Scholarship Giveaway

One such opportunity for students to secure free money for college is the College Ave’s $5,000 No Essay Easy Enter Scholarship Giveaway. This scholarship is unique in that it does not require an essay, making the application process less daunting for students.

To enter, students simply need to visit the College Ave website. The scholarship is open to all students, making it an excellent opportunity for anyone looking to reduce the financial burden of college. The $5,000 award can be used towards tuition, books, housing, and other college-related expenses.

Paying for college can be a significant challenge, but scholarships and grants can help ease this burden. They provide students with the opportunity to pursue their academic dreams without the stress of financial constraints. Therefore, it is crucial for students and their families to explore these opportunities and apply for as many scholarships and grants as they qualify for. Remember, every bit of free money counts when it comes to funding a college education.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. what are scholarships and grants, q. why are scholarships and grants important.

Scholarships and grants can significantly reduce the financial burden of college education, allowing students to focus more on their studies and less on their finances. Moreover, they can also provide students with the opportunity to attend colleges that may have been financially out of reach.

Q. How can I apply for scholarships and grants?

Start your search for scholarships and grants early, apply for as many as you qualify for, be thorough in filling out all the necessary information and providing all the required documents, and keep track of all your application deadlines.

Q. What is the College Ave’s $5,000 No Essay Easy Enter Scholarship Giveaway?

The College Ave’s $5,000 No Essay Easy Enter Scholarship Giveaway is a scholarship opportunity that does not require an essay. To enter, students simply need to visit the College Ave website. The scholarship is open to all students and the $5,000 award can be used towards tuition, books, housing, and other college-related expenses.

Q. Why should I apply for scholarships and grants?

Applying for scholarships and grants can help ease the financial burden of college . They provide students with the opportunity to pursue their academic dreams without the stress of financial constraints. Therefore, it is crucial for students and their families to explore these opportunities and apply for as many scholarships and grants as they qualify for.

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• Start early
• Scholarships and grants
• Federal student aid

Other financing options

Affording college: your step-by-step guide.

Affiliate links for the products on this page are from partners that compensate us (see our advertiser disclosure with our list of partners for more details). However, our opinions are our own. See how we rate student loans to write unbiased product reviews.

• College costs have been rising in recent years; fortunately, there are many ways to pay for it.
• Scholarships and grants are two options that do not need to be repaid.
• Federal student loans should be your top choice for borrowing, with private loans as a last resort.

Start early: planning is key

Set a budget.

Before you sign any papers, estimate the cost for tuition , along with fees, books, living expenses, etc. Know exactly how much college and related expenses will cost, so you know what savings goal to work towards.

Start saving

To begin saving, consider opening a 529 plan or high-yield savings account dedicated to college expenses. A 529 plan is a type of investment account designed to help you grow the money you set aside for college. These are state-based and tied to a specific beneficiary — the student you're saving for — and as you deposit money, the funds are invested into a professionally managed portfolio. 

Explore career paths & earnings potential

Consider how your chosen field impacts potential salaries and loan repayment. A degree in engineering or medicine will be more financially fruitful than a degree in philosophy.

Free money first: scholarships & grants

Scholarships.

Scholarships are among the free options for paying for college. These are financial awards given to students based on need, merit, or achievement, and they do not need to be repaid. They can come from the school you attend, your (or your parent's) employer, community groups, professional organizations, and even the government.

Scholarship search strategies

You can find potential scholarships by talking with your high school guidance counselor or your college's financial aid office or browsing sites like FastWeb . 

"I know it might sound a bit wild, but I suggest that high schoolers should aim to apply for a minimum of 50 scholarships," says Robert Farrington, founder of The College Investor . "This holds true even if you're thinking about going part-time for your studies."

In addition to scholarships, there are grants for college , which also do not need to be repaid. The federal Pell Grant , for example, offers up to $7,395 to students who have "exceptional financial need." Again, you can apply for these and other federal grants using the FAFSA. Your state and college may also have grants and scholarships you can apply for, so be sure to check with your state's education department and your school's financial aid office, too.

Federal student aid: FAFSA is your gateway

Fill out the fafsa.

To apply for federal scholarships — or any other federal student aid, for that matter — you'll need to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid ( FAFSA ).

Understand your award letter

Your financial aid award letter details your aid package, including grants, loans, and work-study opportunities. Keep in mind that financial aid award letters are only for one school year, and you'll need to fill out the FAFSA each year you're in school to determine what aid you're eligible for.

Federal loan options

If you have the option, you'll want to take out a subsidized loan over an unsubsidized loan. Subsidized loans are made based on financial need, and the government pays the interest on your loan while you're in school. Financial need doesn't factor into unsubsidized loans, and interest begins to accrue immediately.

Federal vs. private student loans

When looking at federal vs. private student loans , your first choice should always be federal student loans, which are offered through the US Department of Education. These have lower interest rates and require no credit check (private loans base your rate on your credit). Federal loans also come with more repayment and forgiveness options than most private student loans.

To apply for federal student loans, you'll need to file a FAFSA every year. Once your application is processed, you'll get your loan offers and can evaluate if additional aid is needed beyond that. If it is, private student loans — which are offered through private companies and lenders — may be an option. But as Farrington puts it, "Private loans are the last resort."

You can also consider a work-study program, which places you in a job with the goal of earning money for your education. 

"Work-study programs are a common choice on campuses," Farrington says. "They provide a flexible schedule and are tied to your financial aid. While the pay is usually minimum wage, the hours are adaptable to your class schedule."

There are federal work-study programs, or your individual school may have one.  To apply for federal work-study, you'll need to fill out the FAFSA. 

Employer tuition assistance

See if your employer offers payment assistance. Some companies offer this benefit to their employees, especially if they're planning to study in a field related to their current role.

529 plan withdrawals

If you (or your family) have any money saved in a 529, this is the time to use it!

Affording college FAQs

It is absolutely possible to go to college without loan and with scholarships, grants, savings, and work. But it takes planning and effort.

The amount you'll need for college will vary widely by school and location. Research and budget accordingly.

The FAFSA deadline is usually June 30 of the academic year, but state and school deadlines can be earlier.

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Enhancing the Learning Experience at Essex County College with Moodle Integration

This essay discusses the integration of Moodle at Essex County College, highlighting its benefits for enhancing the educational experience. Moodle, an open-source learning management system, fosters collaboration, accessibility, and personalized learning. It supports multimedia content, offers diverse assessment tools, and provides valuable analytics for educators. The platform’s user-friendly interface and robust security measures make it an effective tool for modern education, aligning with the college’s commitment to excellence and innovation.

How it works

Essex County College has long been a beacon of accessible education, serving a diverse student body with a commitment to excellence and innovation. As technology continues to reshape the educational landscape, the integration of Moodle, a powerful and versatile learning management system (LMS), offers a unique opportunity to enhance the learning experience for both students and educators at Essex County College.

Moodle, short for Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment, is an open-source platform designed to provide educators, administrators, and learners with a single robust, secure, and integrated system to create personalized learning environments.

The integration of Moodle at Essex County College can transform traditional classroom dynamics, making education more interactive, engaging, and accessible.

One of the most significant advantages of Moodle is its ability to foster a collaborative learning environment. Traditional classrooms often rely heavily on face-to-face interactions, which, while valuable, can be limiting in scope and scale. Moodle expands these interactions into the digital realm, offering forums, chat rooms, and collaborative wikis where students can engage with peers and instructors outside of scheduled class times. This extended interaction fosters a deeper understanding of course material, as students can continue discussions, ask questions, and work together on projects regardless of their physical location.

Moreover, Moodle’s integration can significantly enhance the accessibility of educational resources. In the past, students who missed a class due to illness or other commitments might struggle to catch up. With Moodle, all course materials, including lecture notes, reading assignments, and recorded lectures, can be uploaded and accessed anytime. This flexibility ensures that all students have the opportunity to stay current with their studies, promoting equity in education.

The platform’s support for multimedia content is another notable feature that can enrich the learning experience. Educators at Essex County College can incorporate videos, podcasts, and interactive simulations into their courses, catering to various learning styles and making complex concepts easier to understand. For instance, a biology professor could supplement a lecture on cellular processes with a high-resolution video of cell division, providing students with a visual and auditory learning aid that reinforces their understanding.

Assessment and feedback mechanisms within Moodle are designed to enhance the learning process. Traditional paper-based assessments can be time-consuming to grade and may not provide timely feedback. Moodle offers a variety of assessment tools, including quizzes, assignments, and peer assessments, that can be graded automatically. This immediate feedback loop helps students identify areas of improvement and allows instructors to tailor their teaching strategies to meet the needs of their students more effectively.

Furthermore, Moodle’s analytics and reporting features offer valuable insights into student performance and engagement. Instructors can track which resources are being accessed, monitor participation in forums, and identify students who may be struggling with the course material. This data-driven approach enables educators to intervene early and provide additional support where needed, ensuring that all students have the opportunity to succeed.

The integration of Moodle also supports personalized learning paths, catering to the individual needs and pace of each student. Adaptive learning technologies within Moodle can adjust the difficulty of assignments based on student performance, providing more challenging tasks for advanced learners and additional support for those who need it. This personalized approach helps maintain student motivation and fosters a more inclusive learning environment.

For faculty, Moodle offers a user-friendly interface that simplifies course management. Educators can easily create and update course content, manage grades, and communicate with students through a single platform. The time saved on administrative tasks can be redirected towards enhancing the quality of instruction and engaging more deeply with students.

The adoption of Moodle at Essex County College also prepares students for the increasingly digital world. Proficiency in using online learning platforms is a valuable skill in today’s job market, where remote work and digital communication are becoming the norm. By familiarizing students with Moodle, the college equips them with essential digital literacy skills that will benefit them in their future careers.

Additionally, Moodle’s open-source nature means that it can be continuously improved and customized to meet the specific needs of Essex County College. The platform’s large global community of developers and users contributes to its ongoing development, ensuring that it remains at the cutting edge of educational technology. This collaborative approach aligns with the college’s commitment to innovation and continuous improvement.

Security and privacy are paramount considerations in the digital age, and Moodle’s robust security measures help protect sensitive student and faculty data. The platform adheres to stringent data protection standards, ensuring that personal information is kept secure. This level of security builds trust among users and supports a safe online learning environment.

In conclusion, the integration of Moodle at Essex County College represents a significant step forward in enhancing the learning experience for students and educators alike. By fostering collaboration, increasing accessibility, supporting diverse learning styles, and providing valuable insights into student performance, Moodle creates a dynamic and inclusive educational environment. The platform’s user-friendly interface, personalized learning paths, and robust security measures further contribute to its effectiveness as a learning management system. As Essex County College continues to embrace technological advancements, Moodle stands as a powerful tool that supports the institution’s mission of providing high-quality education and fostering student success.

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Home — Essay Samples — Education — College Tuition — The Concept of Free College Tuition

The Concept of Free College Tuition

• Categories: College Tuition

About this sample

Words: 734 |

Published: Dec 18, 2018

Words: 734 | Pages: 2 | 4 min read

Works cited

• Hillman, N. W. (2018). Making college free: Costs and benefits. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 40(4), 353-367.
• Cappelli, P. (2015). Skill gaps, skill shortages, and skill mismatches: Evidence and arguments for the United States. Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 68(2), 251-290.
• Perna, L. W. (2017). The effects of free college tuition: Evidence from the Kalamazoo Promise. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 39(3), 461-481.
• Turner, N. (2019). The effects of free college: Evidence from two-year and four-year institutions. Journal of Public Economics, 172, 136-157.
• Baum, S., & Ma, J. (2016). Trends in college pricing 2016. College Board.
• Johnson, H., & Rosen, H. S. (2016). The financing of higher education: A public-private partnership. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 30(1), 187-204.
• Goldrick-Rab, S. (2016). Paying the price: College costs, financial aid, and the betrayal of the American dream. University of Chicago Press.
• Perna, L. W. (2017). The financial aid system: An overview. In Making college possible: Policies and practices to promote college access and success (pp. 1-22). Harvard Education Press.
• Kelderman, E. (2019). For tuition-free college, California looks to Germany. Chronicle of Higher Education.
• Brown, C. (2016). Could the US afford free higher education? Economic Policy Institute.

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