Maryland General Assembly Sign Bill to Potentially Make Community College Free

On Monday, April 9, Maryland state lawmakers approved a bill that can potentially allow eligible Maryland residents who meet certain qualifications to attend community college free of tuition. That’s right, free tuition. Although these free college tuition programs were approved in Maryland’s General Assembly Discussion, experts believe it is still too soon to determine the effect in the long-run.

Prior to this passage, similar programs were forming in Maryland. For instance, the Mayor’s Scholars Program in Baltimore, launched by Mayor Catherine Pugh, allows all city high school graduates tuition-free community college that began earlier this year. This past March, the College Promise program was proposed by Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamentez. Although it has yet to be approved by the County Council, this program would allow free tuition for community college students who meet specific income and academic requirements.

Brad Phillips, Director of Policy Analysis and Research for the Maryland Association of Community Colleges mentions that the legislation would put in place a $15 million program, essentially doubling scholarship money for students. Although students would still have to apply for other sources of financial aid, tuition would be covered by the program legislators. Students enrolling in any of Maryland’s 16 community colleges would be able to take advantage of this program starting in 2019. The program would also apply to those seeking workforce training certificates from community colleges.

“These programs are pretty new, so we don’t have years and years of data,” remarked Joni E. Finney, Director of the Institute for Research on Higher Education at the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education.

While Governor Larry Hogan has not commented on whether or not he will sign it into law, this legislation would allow students to have access to more state scholarship money, making it free for some.

In light of this program, Bernie Sandusky, Executive Director of the Community College Association said, “this program will be a game-changer for many of our students. We certainly hope Governor Hogan signs it.”