Free community college programs increase enrollment — and strain staff

Apr 24, 2024
Free tuition programs in two New England states have brought thousands of new students into community college classrooms. But they're also straining some schools' faculty and financial aid staff.
Fernando Garcia-Rodriguez, assistant director of Mount Wachusett Community College Educational Opportunity Center, and Cassie Peltola, a community outreach counselor, look at a FAFSA online application form.
Robin Lubbock/WBUR

New York to offer free tuition at public colleges

Apr 10, 2017
New York has become the first state to approve a “free college” plan for middle-class families. A $153 billion budget deal reached Sunday night includes a new Excelsior Scholarship. It will cover tuition at the state’s public colleges and universities for families earning up to $125,000 a year. But as any family paying for college […]

My Economy: Free college "changed my life"

Nov 23, 2016
Mike Essl is fighting to bring back free tuition at New York's Cooper Union.
Mike Essl, a graduate and acting dean of the Cooper Union School of Art, bears a tattoo of the college's iconic Foundation Building.
Leo Sorel/Courtesy of The Cooper Union

How 'free' changes college

Sep 28, 2016
For more than a century, New York's Cooper Union charged no tuition.
Elad Firnberg graduated without debt from Cooper Union in 2008, and went on to co-found Revolve Biotechnologies, a startup in Baltimore.
Amy Scott/Marketplace