In this brief, the authors aim to equip policymakers and advocates for higher education opportunity and equity with a framework for analyzing and pushing for "equity-driven" free college policy. The purpose is not to challenge the momentum around free college, but to understand how programs can be designed to advance opportunity and success for the students most challenged by the affordability crisis. To address historical failures to attend to equity, the authors applied the framework to existing and proposed state-level free college programs. The framework addresses what costs the program covers, who is eligible for the program, and whether or not recipients have to pay back any of the grant aid. The framework was applied to 15 existing statewide policies and 16 proposals that are designed to cover at least the cost of tuition; are available to students statewide and not just those from certain school districts, those enrolled at a specific university, or those pursuing certain disciplines/areas of study; are entirely state funded; and were enacted by 2017 or formally introduced in state legislatures in 2016 or 2017. Well-designed free college policies that make college truly free for low-income students and help broaden access to higher education can help guarantee that the legacy of free college is about how states were able to make college affordable once again, and not about how major investments in wealthy students exacerbated inequities. Implementing equity-focused free college policies can help states shift the narrative from one where their disinvestment is blamed for contributing to the affordability crisis in higher education, to one where they are credited for taking the bold steps necessary to make college affordable, including for those who struggle the most to pay.