‘Free college’ programs are surging – but do they help neediest students?

What low-income students really need is help with other expenses, such as housing, books and transportation – things free college programs don’t often cover. Those essentials account for about 80% of the cost of attending community college, according to researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Free college often is “a false promise,” Del Pilar said. “I don’t think equity is at the heart of these programs, because if it was, they would be designed a bit differently than what we see.”