Does Free College Work? – The New York Times

“Yes, we believe all students have the potential to graduate, but it was about bringing a world-class workforce to Knoxville and Knox County so we can attract businesses and industries to the area,” said Krissy DeAlejandro , a managing director and one of the founders of the program.

More than a decade later, the results are encouraging.

• Participants who graduated from high school in 2009, 2010, and 2011 earned an average of 13 percent more than their non-program classmates seven years after graduation, according to research by the University of Tennessee. “The fact that they saw an increase in income is significant,” said Michelle Miller-Adams, senior researcher at the Upjohn Institute and an expert on the toll-free college movement.

• In the three years after its inception, the program increased college enrollment among Knox County’s high school graduates by an average of about 3 percentage points from the average for the past two years.

In 2014, Tennessee started a statewide program that offers a free community college or technical school. (The program is government funded and private donors fund a nonprofit that offers student success initiatives, including mentoring.) In the years since, a significantly higher percentage of high school graduates have enrolled in one year and more have earned degrees or job references, according to the Lumina Foundation, an independent, private foundation in Indianapolis that focuses on the accessibility of higher education.

What Tennessee did right

Celeste Carruthers, a professor at the University of Tennessee’s Haslam College of Business who has done an in-depth study of the state’s tuition-free programs, said Tennessee got several things right. The first was to keep the program simple.

“The crystal clear message that college is free if you follow these steps and go to these places breaks through a lot of clutter and opacity,” said Dr. Carruthers. Needs and merit programs in other states have had less success in attracting low-income students, some of whom have struggled through the complicated process of getting college financial aid.

Another aspect of Tennessee’s success has been its focus on mentoring for students. One point that is often overlooked in conversations about low graduation rates is that community colleges accept all students, regardless of grades and test scores, said Juan Salgado, the Chancellor of the Chicago Community College System. Many are first generation students and some are struggling with homelessness, hunger, or other family problems.

Updated

July 9, 2021, 6:36 p.m. ET

That may mean students need more help meeting deadlines, completing coursework, and finding a job. Studies of a program the City University of New York developed to provide mentoring and other student support services showed an impressive surge in graduation rates for low-income students when three community colleges in Ohio replicated but the results were in Detroit less encouraging.

“The evidence shows that despite their circumstances, our students can do very well with the right support, including financial support,” said Salgado.

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