Congress Could Sink Free Massachusetts Community College

Like anything else, free community college is not free because somebody pays for it. The professors don't work for free. The administrators get paid, as do the custodians, security officers, kitchen staff and just about everyone else who clocks in in the morning.

Somebody pays for all of this. Ah, that would be you.

State and federal funding pay for students to attend community college for free in Massachusetts.

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State House News Service reported that "If enacted, Pell Grant cuts approved by the U.S. House could upend free community college programs that are just getting started in Massachusetts and saddle current and former students with more student loan debt," according to public higher education officials.

More student loan debt? I thought it was free.

SHNS quoted William Heineman, president of North Shore Community College and chair of the Community College Council of Presidents, as saying that "We're hyper-focused on seeing the House's proposed Pell changes fail."

The U.S. Senate's budget does not include Pell Grant reductions – at least not yet.

"Tens of thousands of our students rely on Pell Grants," Heineman said. Reductions in the Pell Grant program "would threaten the future of free community college and have a disastrous impact on our students," he said.

SHNS reported that Massachusetts Commissioner of Higher Education Noe Ortega said, "We've got a lot of programs in Massachusetts that we call 'last dollar' programs, which are reliant on the first-dollar awards, right? And Pell Grant makes the biggest, significant impact."

While Pell Grants don't directly pay for free community college in Massachusetts, they can be used to cover additional costs beyond tuition, such as books, supplies and living costs.

The Commonwealth, or its taxpayers, pay for tuition and fees, and they also contribute to the Pell Grants.