Sometimes politicians’ lofty promises of free college are too good to be true – The Hechinger Report
Students are increasingly bumping up against the fine print in free-tuition programs
It seemed that everywhere he turned, Samuel Tretjakov heard about the idea of free tuition to college.
His friends discussed it. Presidential candidates kept calling for it. And politicians in his home state of California did more than just talk about it; they set aside some money for it, and invited students to apply.
To Tretjakov, that sounded not only like a good deal. He assumed that — as a full-time student enrolled at two California community colleges who was also working nearly full time to cover his costs — he’d be eligible.
But he was turned down, and learned later that the new state program applied only to first-year students. Tretjakov was in his second year.
“I just missed it,” said the 19-year-old. “You figure you deserve something, right?”
Meanwhile, his jobs left him little time to go through the red tape to ask more questions or seek other help.
At the campus financial aid office, he said, “The lines are long and you have to cut out a chunk of time to do that. That’s without even knowing that you could actually get something.”