Evidence Against the Free-College Agenda: An Analysis of Prices, Financial Aid, and Affordability at Public Universities

The 2020 Democratic presidential primary elevated free-college plans to the top of the national agenda, with many candidates proposing expansive programs to help states make public colleges and universities free for in-state students. This report questions the need for free-college policies by assessing affordability and prices at public universities for in-state students after all financial aid is applied and how these “net prices” have changed since the mid-1990s. This report focuses on two groups of students at public four-year institutions that broadly encompass the students whom free-college policies are meant to assist: those from families earning less than $125,000 and those who receive federal Pell Grants, which are generally restricted to families earning less than $75,000.