The idea of free college has definitely not been around for long, but since 2015 when President Obama proposed making community college free for the entire nation, and since Bernie Sanders passionately supported the concept in the 2016 presidential race, free college has become a huge political conversation. Despite controversial viewpoints on both ends of the political spectrum, states are adopting free-college policies left and right.

Even before President Obama’s proposal, Tennessee had already approved the Tennessee Promise scholarship, making community college free for students graduating high school that year. That scholarship will now be expanded to all Tennessee adults starting in 2018. Oregon also offers free tuition for community college students in a similar scholarship format.

San Francisco followed suit, giving all students – nearly 30,000 – at the City College of San Francisco free tuition starting this fall. Also this fall, eligible students at both two and four-year State and City Universities in New York will receive free tuition.

Rhode Island, Arkansas, Minnesota and South Dakota are also among the states considering free public college policies. Each existing and future policy is unique depending on state needs, and each state has had to find funding from different resources. Nonetheless, free college is no doubt an expanding force.

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