The concept of free college has moved from the fringes to the center of the debate for the Democratic presidential hopefuls, Michelle Miller-Adams and John Austin write in an opinion piece for The Hill. Not all free-college programs are the same, however, according to the Upjohn Institute's Miller-Adams, a senior researcher, and Austin, a research fellow.
Miller-Adams and Austin offer lessons from Kalamazoo, Michigan, an innovator in free high school in the 19th century and free college—through the Kalamazoo Promise scholarship—in the 21st. They explain how the design of free-college programs affects the results, drawing from the Upjohn Institute policy paper “Promise Scholarship Programs and Local Prosperity” and other Institute research.