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Maryland Moves on Free Community College

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May 8, 2018

Maryland's Republican governor, Larry Hogan, said he plans to sign into law a new program that would cover the cost of tuition to the state's community colleges, according to The Washington Post.

The legislation would provide up to $5,000 in scholarships to students whose families earn less than $125,000 a year and adults earning less than $90,000 annually. The scholarships would be last dollar, which means the state covers tuition only after other aid, like Pell Grants, is taken into consideration. The scholarship program is mostly for recent high school graduates, and students must take at least 12 credits per semester to be eligible. Lawmakers estimate the program, which kicks off in 2019, will cost $15 million a year.

Maryland would join a growing number of states, including California, Kentucky, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Tennessee, that have statewide tuition-free programs for college.

Ashley A. Smith

Ashley A. Smith, Reporter, covers community colleges, for-profit schools and non-traditional students for Inside Higher Ed. She joined the publication in 2015 after covering government and K-12 education for the Fort Myers News-Press in Florida for three years. Ashley also covered K-12 and higher education for three years at the Marshfield News-Herald in Wisconsin. She has interned with The Flint Journal, USA Today and the Detroit Free Press. Ashley grew up in Detroit and is a 2008 graduate of Michigan State University.