Massachusetts has just set a huge example for the rest of America by approving free community college! After a long series of drawn-out negotiations between the Massachusetts House of Representatives and the Senate, the two chambers came to an agreement on setting aside enough money to make all community colleges tuition free.
For getting us ever closer to making all Massachusetts public colleges tuition-free, PHENOM would like to give special thanks to both chambers of the Massachusetts State House, and particularly to Senate Majority Leader Karen Spilka; Senate Ways and Means Committee Chair Michael Rodrigues and Vice Chair Cindy F. Friedman; House Ways and Means Committee Chair Aaron Micklewitz and Vice-Chair Ann-Margaret Ferante; and the Ways and Means Committee ranking Republicans Senator Patrick O’Connor and Rep. Todd Smola.
This is only the latest victory in the fight for more affordable higher education after the recent landmark passage of MassReconnect: this program, passed in 2023, guaranteed tuition-free community college to residents 25 and over. However, while that program only applied to people in need and 25 years old and up, this new 2024-2025 budget sets aside $117 million to make community college tuition-free for all residents, regardless of income or age.
In addition to eliminating tuition, according to the Massterlist’s Ella Adams and Eric Convey, students will also have access to stipends for “books, supplies and other costs” if they are a certain degree below the Commonwealth’s median income level and/or Pell-eligible.
The next challenge we face is defending this hard-won milestone victory. The student loan industry, banks and the politicians of both parties in their pockets are likely terrified of the potential success of free community college, and will stop at nothing to shut it down before it can succeed.
The rest of America is watching: the Commonwealth has just made an exemplary promise to make community colleges tuition-free. The success of this program could not only uplift countless citizens of Massachusetts but also inspire other states to pass their own versions. But that all depends on the work we do to strengthen critical funding for community colleges in the following years.