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Deep Springs College, California
At Deep Springs College in California, students pay their way by working on the ranch.
Brian L. Frank—Redux

A few new proposals are calling for making college free nationally—either for two years or all four. But experts say it could be some time before we can entirely say goodbye to tuition bills on all schools across the nation.

In the meantime, there are some places where college is already free, either for all students or those who fit certain criteria. So if you want to avoid ever signing your name to a student loan, you might add these schools to your list.

Programs that make students earn their keep: Those enrolled at Alice Lloyd, Berea, and Deep Springs colleges work to pay their full tuition—at Deep Springs, on the school ranch and farm.

Programs that reward locals. A program called Tulsa Achieves offers every high school graduate from Tulsa County, OK with at least a “C” average a full ride on tuition and fees at a local community college, local tax revenue. A local oil company pays all tuition and fees at any college or university for graduates of El Dorado High School in Arkansas. And anonymous donors do the same thing for students who attend public kindergarten through high school in Kalamazoo, Mich., and go on to a Michigan public college or university.

Programs that reward service: The U.S. military, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, and merchant marine academies charge no tuition for students who are accepted and serve a military term or time at sea. CUNY’s Teacher Academy gives a gratis education for education students who graduate and teach at least two years in the New York City public schools.

Programs that seek talent: The Curtis Institute of Music is free for students who pass a demanding audition, and Webb Institute for a handful of the most promising engineering students. The Macaulay Honors College at the City University of New York waives tuition for applicants who can meet the tough admissions requirements—including an “A” average in high school.

Programs with a religious bent: Barclay College, a bible college, is an example of a religious school that is free.

Programs that recognize need: Very highly selective universities with big endowments have also acted in the last several years to make tuition free for students from families with certain incomes—MIT for families that earn $75,000 or less, Harvard and Yale $65,000 or less, and Columbia, Cornell, Stanford, Duke, Brown, and Texas A&M $60,000 or less.

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This story was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, nonpartisan education-news outlet affiliated with Teachers College, Columbia University.

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