On Friday, February 7, POLITICO hosted a series of conversations with governors from across the country, focusing on innovative approaches their states have taken to address complex problems.
On December 13 in Detroit, Michigan, the Campaign for Free College Tuition (CFCT) hosted our annual workshop for state leaders on making college tuition free. Public officials, experts, and innovators from around the country shared examples of proven best-practices and actionable strategies for policy creation, funding, and building political support.
Read moreThe mission of the Campaign for Free College Tuition is to make two- and four-year public colleges tuition free in all 50 states. Since we started the organization five years ago, we have experienced increasing momentum across the country toward that goal, particularly with regard to community colleges. Today, twenty-one states have some type of free college tuition program, thirteen of which are sufficiently robust to be checked off as milestone achievements on our way to our celebration of mission accomplished.
Read moreThose of us who were present at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. in 2014 when we first announced our campaign to make college tuition free in all 50 states are constantly amazed at how much we have accomplished in such a short time. The idea of making public colleges tuition free has gone from what was considered a crazy idea back then to one that has been enacted into law in red, blue, and purple states in every part of the county.
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Recently CFCT president, Morley Winograd, and Executive Vice President of PSB Research Jack MacKenzie, sat down to talk about the Campaign for Free College Tuition with Frank News, a website that focused all of its May coverage on the issue of free college tuition. The in-depth, 60 Minutes style interview provided an opportunity to talk not only about why momentum for free college tuition continues to build in states across the country but how essential accomplishing our mission is in addressing economic inequality in American and strengthening our democracy.
Read moreMSNBC recently featured the positive impact of the Tennesse Promise, a free college tuition program with strong bipartisan support.
Read moreMomentum 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 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.
