Free Tuition Draws Diverse, Working Students to Connecticut Community Colleges

The Connecticut State Community College system has grown in popularity since 2019, when the General Assembly voted to create a free tuition program, a recent news story in the Connecticut Post and a new report by the community college system suggest.

According to the state report, Connecticut’s community college system is now the largest college in the state, with nearly 65,000 students – 27,000 of whom are attending college for the first time in their families. With an average student age of 27, 30,000 are working while attending school – including 6,300 parents. 98% of community college students are from Connecticut, and more than 90% remain in Connecticut after graduation – filling needed jobs and becoming taxpayers.

“Making public higher education affordable and accessible creates an expressway for working families and young people to achieve higher paying jobs and financial security,” said state Senator Derek Slap, who is chair of the Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee. “In 2019 we created a debt-free community college program, and we continue to expand eligibility for Connecticut residents. This year our community college system saw the highest enrollment in the state, proving that removing barriers to higher education opens the door for more students to invest in their future.”

According to Hearst CT Media, about a third of all community college students come from just 10 Connecticut cities: Bridgeport, Waterbury, New Haven, Hartford, Stamford, Norwalk, New Britain, Manchester, Danbury and Meriden.

Connecticut’s community colleges are the largest producers of jobs in the fields of allied health and nursing, information technology and computer science, and manufacturing – professions which pay $42,000 to $86,000 a year. Our community colleges are also ranked as the second-most affordable in the nine New England region states of Maine, Rhode Island, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont.

Originally called the “Pledge to Advance Connecticut,” PACT was established in 2019 by the state legislature to provide free tuition for students attending any of the 12 community colleges. PACT was designed to bridge the tuition gap students may have after receiving scholarships and other financial aid, serving as a “last-dollar” scholarship in which a state grant would cover any expenses remaining after students have exhausted federal, state and institutional financial aid opportunities. In fact, even students who have all their tuition and fees covered by financial aid are eligible for at least $250 per semester.

Qualified students must be a graduate of a public or private high school (or have a GED or be home-schooled); be a first-time college student; complete the FAFSA and accept all awards; participate in a degree or credit-bearing certificate program; and once enrolled, remain in good academic standing.

This year, the state legislature re-named the PACT program the “Mary Ann Handley Award,” after the late Democratic state Senator Mary Ann Handley of Manchester who was a history professor at the former Manchester Community College and who was a keen advocate for Connecticut’s community college system and all it has to offer state residents.

Posted by Lawrence Cook