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It’s Not Enough to Make College Tuition Free [1]

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Date: 2022-10

Last month, New Mexico became the most recent state to pledge to make college tuition free for its residents. While more than half of U.S. states offer some form of free college program, New Mexico’s recent law offers the most generous, and comprehensive, state plan to make college tuition free. The program, available to all New Mexico residents, covers the full cost of tuition and fees at New Mexico public colleges and universities, community colleges, and tribal colleges, for both part-time and full-time students. Importantly, the program is available for students of any age regardless of income, and is open to all state residents regardless of their immigration status. Designed as a first-dollar program, the New Mexico plan will cover student tuition and fees without considering other potential sources of financial aid, which will allow students to use other sources of funding to help address their living expenses.

While the New Mexico program is a comprehensive, ambitious effort that will improve affordability and access to higher education, efforts to enhance college affordability that focus solely on tuition – rather than the full cost of attendance – are inherently limited. The full cost of college is far more than the cost of tuition. In fact, costs beyond tuition – such as housing, food, and transportation – are often far more than the cost of tuition itself [see figure 1]. Making tuition free will help students afford the entire cost of college, and will allow students to use other sources of financial aid to help address their living costs. But without other actions, making college tuition free will not prevent students from accumulating debt.

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[1] Url: https://www.newamerica.org/education-policy/edcentral/its-not-enough-to-make-college-tuition-free/

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