Sponsor
Adam Smith
Representative · D-WA
Representative · D-WA
The bill significantly expands access to community college and non‑tuition supports to help low-income students complete credentials and connect to jobs, but those gains are time‑limited, come with administrative costs and eligibility exclusions, and raise implementation and privacy challenges.
Low-income and other eligible students can attend community college tuition-free for the 5-year federal grant period, cutting or eliminating direct tuition costs while the program is funded.
Students facing basic-needs hardships can receive emergency grants (up to $1,500 or $2,500), helping them stay enrolled and complete credentials by addressing immediate financial shocks.
States must expand supportive services (childcare, transportation, housing supports, and navigators), reducing non-tuition barriers that often prevent students—especially parents—from persisting and finishing credentials.
Federal funding is limited to the 5-year grant period and depends on unspecified appropriations ('such sums as necessary'), creating uncertainty about long-term sustainability of tuition-free community college models.
A high administrative set‑aside (up to 20%) and detailed cost-analysis requirements risk diverting a meaningful share of funds away from direct student aid and frontline institution services.
Extensive state application, planning, reporting, and data‑sharing requirements may burden state agencies and institutions, potentially delaying rollout and consuming staff resources.
Based on analysis of 1 section of legislative text.
Creates a federal grant program funding States to offer tuition-free community college, boost supportive services at community colleges, and provide direct grants for students' non-tuition costs tied to workforce credentials.
Official title: To direct the Secretary of Education to establish a program to facilitate the transition to tuition-free community college in certain States, and for other purposes.
Introduced September 19, 2025 by Adam Smith · Last progress September 19, 2025
Creates a federal grant program that funds States to make community college tuition-free for eligible students, expand student supports, and pay for non-tuition costs tied to career-focused postsecondary credentials. States must submit plans that set up an interagency committee to align higher education, workforce, human services, and other supports; adopt measures to help people without high school diplomas access community college credentials; and strengthen career pathways linked to in-demand industries.