By Melanie Mitcheson | Observer Contributor
At Mount Wachusett Community College’s biweekly info sessions, Associate Vice President of Enrollment Marcia Rosbury-Henne put it simply: “We just call it free college.”
She’s referring to two recent pieces of Massachusetts legislation that have made community college tuition-free: MassReconnect, passed in fall 2023, which applies to students over 25 without a bachelor’s degree, and MassEducate, passed in spring 2024, which covers all Massachusetts residents. These programs are turning skeptics into students, leading to an increase in enrollment and impacting the middle-income families ineligible for federal aid, as well as college-bound youth, and even their newly college-bound parents.
By now, MWCC leadership and staff are well-versed in the FAQs of free college.
Is there a catch?
Yes: Students must be Massachusetts residents, have a high school diploma or the equivalent, and not already hold a bachelor’s degree.
Who’s paying for this?
The programs are “last-dollar plans,” meaning state funds kick in only after federal aid, like Pell grants, is applied.
Will it raise my taxes?
Only for millionaires. Funding comes from the 2022 Fair Share Amendment, which increased taxes on annual earnings over $1 million.
The programs are resoundingly popular, and MWCC enrollment increased 22% this spring. The Mount hired four new full-time faculty members and expanded its outreach efforts for potential students, including the enrollment office’s “FAFSA Fridays,” named for the federal aid form required to access free college.
For Rosbury-Henne, the enthusiastic response is the best part of the job, even during a lightning-fast period of adaptation for her department. She has observed the emotional impact firsthand. “The tears we’ve had in the admissions office…this is life changing,” she said.
Kat Lamur, a Leominster resident aiming for a career in the sciences, is a fan of MassEducate. “I don’t want a million dollars in debt to impact my future life and children,” she explained.
With variables like a new incoming presidential administration and the economy, Rosbury-Henne hesitated to predict the future, but expects 24-36 months of continued growth with an eventual plateau sometime after 18 months. She remarked that new enrollees are split nearly evenly between favoring evening courses and day courses.
Another trend that Rosbury-Henne finds encouraging is that 28% of spring 2025 applicants identify as a race other than white—a clear sign for her that the Mount is progressing toward the goals of the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education’s 2023-2033 Strategic Plan for Racial Equity.
Rosbury-Henne largely dismissed concerns that free college would impact student efforts. She stated that her team is “honest with students,” dismantling “the myth of Grade 13” and emphasizing that faculty have high expectations. She pointed out that the part-time requirement of a minimum of 2 credits per semester also benefits working students who need time to pursue a degree.
Carla Zottoli, MWCC’s executive director of development and the MWCC Foundation, said the programs’ impact on fundraising is “too new” to fully grasp. “Who’s not getting the money?” Zottoli initially wondered, concerned in particular about students with varying immigration statuses or those without help from parents or others to complete the often daunting task of filling out the FAFSA.
She also noted that while tuition is free, additional services remain unfunded. “Free community college is great, but we also need money for infrastructure and more professors,” Zottoli said.
Retaining talented teachers is also crucial for Zottoli, who referred to a recent salary study from the Massachusetts Teacher Association showing the state’s full-time community college professors make 70% less than those in California and 50% less than New York.
MWCC President Jim Vander Hooven agreed, cautioning that “we don’t want to overly applaud [free college] when students are not getting their essential needs met.” He believes free college “inherently does not have a downside” but acknowledged that barriers such as food insecurity, housing instability, childcare shortages and mental illness can significantly impact student success. “It wasn’t just finances that dissuaded students from pursuing a degree or certificate,” he said. “We’re building the airplane as we fly it,” he added, referring to ongoing efforts to improve students’ quality of life beyond the classroom.
He noted that Massachusetts community colleges serve 51% of the state’s students but receive just 23% of state funding. “What we do with so much less is significantly more.”
Despite the challenges, Vander Hooven clearly believes in the Mount’s capacity to meet the moment and the positive momentum of college for all, and finds hope in the widespread partisan support for the funding.
In the student lounge on a fall day, student and musician Brennan Shea summed up his feelings simply: “Free college just needs to be a normal thing.”
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