ERIC Number: ED660845
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2024-Sep
Pages: 27
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Institutional and Student Responses to Free College: Evidence from Virginia. CCRC Working Paper No. 137
Daniel Sparks; Sade Bonilla
Community College Research Center, Teachers College, Columbia University
More than half of states have implemented tuition-free college policies aimed at reducing attendance costs and incentivizing enrollment. We review the academic literature on the design features and impacts of these tuition-free policies, and we analyze an initiative Virginia implemented in 2021 called Get a Skill, Get a Job, Get Ahead (G3), which provides tuition-free community college to students enrolled in eligible associate degree, certificate, and noncredit occupational training programs in five high-demand fields. Our descriptive analysis of G3 from 2016-17 through 2022-23 shows that both institutions and students responded to the tuition-free messaging and eligibility criteria. Specifically, G3-eligible institutional program offerings and student enrollment in such programs both increased by roughly 30% within the first two years of program implementation. While Virginia's tuition-free policy promotes enrollment in targeted occupational programs, overall enrollment effects are partially offset by a 3% enrollment reduction in aid-ineligible transfer-oriented programs. To promote skill development and improve labor market outcomes, policymakers should ensure that programs eligible for tuition-free college include pathways to longer term credentials.
Descriptors: Student Reaction, Institutional Characteristics, Student Costs, Higher Education, Tuition, Program Implementation, Community Colleges, Certification, Associate Degrees, Noncredit Courses, College Enrollment, Enrollment Influences, Educational Policy, Skill Development, Labor Force Development
Community College Research Center. Available from: CCRC Publications. Teachers College, Columbia University, 525 West 120th Street Box 174, New York, NY 10027. Tel: 212-678-3091; Fax: 212-678-3699; e-mail: ccrc@columbia.edu; Web site: http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/
Publication Type: Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education; Two Year Colleges
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Institute of Education Sciences (ED)
Authoring Institution: Community College Research Center (CCRC), Accelerating Recovery in Community Colleges (ARCC) Network
Identifiers - Location: Virginia
IES Funded: Yes
Grant or Contract Numbers: R305X220024
Author Affiliations: N/A