Document Tag: free college
Empty Promises: Why and How Community Colleges Exclude Undocumented Students from “Free College” Promise Programs (2024)
Given their lower costs, community colleges are the most accessible postsecondary institutions for undocumented students. Emerging “free community college” (i.e. Promise) programs could therefore be uniquely beneficial for these students. Yet many programs exclude undocumented students, either explicitly or by requiring Pell eligibility or FAFSA completion. Drawing on a case study of a program at Milwaukee Area Technical College, including 146 stakeholder interviews, we shed light on why, how, and to what effect such exclusions occur. We show that this exclusion was not inevitable given administrators’ discretion in program design, but that this outcome was likely given community colleges’ subordinate position in the academic hierarchy as well as the hostile immigration state context. We also examine the college leaders’ choice of an ambiguous exclusion process and provide suggestive evidence that this ambiguity harmed undocumented students. The study furthers the understanding of the role of higher education in shaping bureaucratic incorporation for undocumented youth in hostile immigration states and uncovers another mechanism through which colleges block access to affordability for undocumented students.
How America’s College Promise Would Reshape the Free College Landscape (2023)
Rising college costs and attainment gaps have motivated states to pass “promise” programs for free community college tuition and motivated President Biden to champion a proposal for nationwide free community college called America’s College Promise (ACP).
An underrated aspect of ACP is that it eliminates tuition before other grants are applied, freeing the Pell Grant to cover non-tuition costs. Many state programs only cover students’ tuition balances after other grants, including Pell.
Most community college students would qualify for ACP. However, only 31 percent of community college students in states with promise programs receive grants. Most programs appear to reach less than 10 percent.
TCF’s analysis finds that total grants received by the average promise program recipient would be 56 percent greater under ACP (an average of $8,900), and 51 percent among Pell Grant recipients (an average of $10,600).
Even if every U.S. state adopted a last-dollar promise program in the vein of existing programs, community college students nationwide would receive only 19 cents for every dollar that America’s College Promise would make available.
If states continue their promise programs as living stipends, low-income community college students could see a massive increase in their total financial assistance through the combined power of ACP, the Pell Grant, and state aid.