Momentum for states to make their public colleges tuition free continues to build. Just this week, Governor Jim Justice of West Virginia (R) made his state the 12th to join the bandwagon. He signed SB 1 that creates the WV Invests Grant program that makes community colleges tuition free for students pursing the type of jobs the state needs most.
Read moreCFCT is always looking for innovative ideas to make college tuition free. While we are not affiliated with the Modern States philanthropy and are not endorsing its solution to the challenge, we do think our readers should be aware of its existence.
Free College Courses for Credit: Now a Reality
By Steve Klinsky
Nobody should be denied a college education for lack of money. However, as evidenced by student debt exceeding $1.5 trillion, college affordability is a major issue for students and their families.
Read moreMomentum is building in states across the country to make more of their higher education system tuition free. As candidates and Congress at the national level bemoan growing economic inequality, Governors and state legislative leaders are enacting into law the one policy initiative that has proven to increase economic mobility for those in the middle class and those struggling to get in. Now, new research helps quantify the economic benefit students in those states that choose to undertake this initiative can expect to receive in additional income, for both them and their state government.
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A college education can set you up for a bright future, increased earnings, and a fulfilling career, but it will be one of the most expensive purchases you’ll ever make. To make it work for you financially, you need to think strategically. This game of chess you’re playing has the potential to save you a small fortune if you play correctly.
Most students will need some sort of financial aid to be able to afford college. The first step they should take is filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, also known as the FAFSA. This may be your best bet for securing financial aid, even if you think your family will make too much money to get any aid.
Read moreThere seems, at times, to be no shortage of perceived obstructions to reaching the goal of universal free public-university education in America. From my perspective, among the most difficult obstructions to confront is covert opinion that higher education primarily serves a private, not a public, purpose. From this private-interest notion flows the argument, and the public policy to enforce it, that since the ultimate beneficiary of education is the student the student should bear its cost through increased and increasingly burdensome tuition.
Read moreAs midterm elections bring a heightened focus on politics across the country, the idea of making college tuition free continues to gain support, generating even more pointed push back from those wedded to the status quo. So, we thought you might like a quick update on some recent coverage that caught our eyes.
Read moreBy Morley Winograd and Harris Miller
Advocates of free college tuition are often challenged by the question: How do we pay for it? Twelve states and well over 200 local communities already have found an answer to that question and have such programs in place. But for those state leaders who realize they need a free college program to remain economically competitive, as well as to make sure their residents have the opportunity to obtain the skills necessary for a well-paying job, yet do not have a funding source, we now have a new answer – sports betting.
Read moreThis has been a remarkable year of progress in our campaign to make college tuition free. As the year draws to a close, residents of eleven states, more than double the number we could claim at the beginning of the year, are now enjoying the benefits of free college tuition.
As a result, over 1 million students have enrolled in some form of a state Promise program this year, many of them the first in their family to do so. We plan on telling some of their stories in 2018 to help convince other states to jump on the free college tuition bandwagon. If someone you know was given a new opportunity in life thanks to a free college tuition program in their state, please encourage them to share their story with us so we can spread the word and help bring similar support to other students.
Read moreGovernor Jerry Brown’s signature of AB 19 in October 2017 lays the groundwork for the California College Promise in the nation’s most populated state. Once funded in 2018, it will become the nation’s only first-dollar state-funded Promise program and provide one year of support to first-time full-time community college students.
In addition to aiding students with tuition/fees, the Promise aims to promote successful outcomes. To this end, participating community colleges must partner with local school districts and/or four-year universities to establish an Early Commitment to College Program that will provide student, and their families, assistance in learning about postsecondary opportunities, completing college prep courses, and applying for college and financial aid.
We are very happy to share with you the following guest post from California Community Colleges Chancellor Eloy Oakley, who worked tirelessly with Assembly Member Miguel Santiago and other legislators on this important legislative framework. As he notes, “while more work needs to be done, we are all on our way.” Chancellor Oakley, CFCT stands with you in removing cost as a barrier to attending college.
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While the school year is only several months old, there are already great results to report about programs making public colleges tuition free in Tennessee, Rhode Island, and New York. In Tennessee, data from the initial cohort of Tennessee Promise recipients shows that they are persisting in their community college careers at a rate 17 percent greater than those who do not have a TN Promise scholarship. Both Rhode Island and New York launched their Promise programs to make public colleges tuition free this Fall with very aggressive implementation schedules. In both states, initial participation data demonstrates the power of programs that make college tuition free.
Read moreOur goal is to make higher education a possibility for every American, without regard to their financial circumstances.
We have a lot to do and not much time to do it, so your support is critical for our campaign to succeed. It’s with your investment that we can fundamentally reform how higher education is financed in this country, opening the doors to a more equitable society.
If you agree with our goal, our plan, and the urgency of the problem, we ask that you give what you can to help us write the next chapter in our nation’s history of continuously expanding access to universal, free education.
