The city of Philadelphia just joined the vanguard of states and cities implementing free tuition at local community colleges. Starting next fall, some recent high school graduates entering the Community College of Philadelphia (CCP) will be eligible for scholarship funding that will make up the difference between CCP’s tuition and state and federal aid.
“We see far too many students – even with Pell Grants and state grants – who are unable to meet the gap between what their final tuition bill is and what they’re funded,” said CCP president Dr. Donald Generals.
Generals, who joined the college as president in July 2014, said that the college had been planning this for the past 4 to 5 months. CCP made the announcement on April 5.
“The reality is almost half of all the college going students in the country are going to community colleges,” Generals said. “So in many ways we’re akin to the way high schools were back a hundred or so years ago, where we are democracy’s educational institution.”
Tuition and fees are about $5,500 a year at CCP. The college will disburse between $450 and $500 per eligible student via the newly created 50th Anniversary Scholars Program. In order to be eligible for the program, prospective students must be Pell eligible, meaning that they come from households earning less than $50,000 a year. Students must also fill out a FAFSA form. Between the Pell Grant and the scholarship money, tuition will be free for students.
Additionally, students must meet certain academic standards. At a minimum, they must require only one semester of remediation in mathematics or algebra, and be able to test out of Composition I. CCP will offer boot camp and remedial workshops over the summer, but students must be up to speed by the fall semester.
Once in college, students will be required to maintain a 2.5 GPA and complete 12-15 credits per semester. “We want to really incentivize students to go full time, and to be serious about their education and maintain a reasonable GPA,” Generals said.
