Lawmakers in the Ocean State have passed a measure (with many stipulations) allowing free tuition at its community college through a program they label "The Promise Scholarship." There is only one community college in Rhode Island, but we are talking about a state the size of any backyard in Texas after all.
To qualify for the free tuition, students must have graduated from high school the previous spring, live in Rhode Island, be enrolled full time, and maintain a 2.5 GPA. Furthermore, after the two years, the student must continue living and working in the state for some unspecified amount of time. Might you be held prisoner for life in Rhode Island? Potentially, but I hear east Providence is lovely.
These sorts of stipulations fall in line with what the three other states that allow free tuition require. New York, Oregon, and Tennessee each allow various forms of free tuition, usually based on income and other variables. New York, for instance, limits free tuition at state schools to families who earn less than $125,000.
In case you're wondering, the median household income in New York is $60,850, although New York lawmakers say the $125,000 is still roughly the middle class.
In case you're still wondering, the IRS says that $133,000 places people in the top 10% of American income, meaning nearly 90% of New York qualifies for free tuition. If income is divided equally into upper class, middle class, and lower* class--with 1/3 each--somehow 90% just became 2/3 (middle and lower) in the state of New York.
Math is hard. Maybe a free algebra class at a community college might help.
*The euphemism of "working class" needs to end. There is no sense in allowing the term "upper class" without the equal contrast of "lower class," or to assume those in the other income brackets are somehow not "working." Tender sensibilities won't be offended by a simple fact. Lower class is simply a lower level of income, end of story.
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