City College of San Francisco First in Nation to Offer Free Tuition

San Francisco is rolling out an ambitious program that’s expected to allow thousands of students living in the city to attend City College of San Francisco for free beginning this fall.

Mayor Ed Lee called it a “bold" plan at Monday’s press conference. Under the agreement, the city would put up $5.4 million annually to cover the tuition for students at $46 per credit. California residents living in San Francisco for at least one year would be covered.

More than $3 million of that funding would also help with certain expenses, such as textbooks and transportation, for low-income students whose fees are already waived by the state. That pencils out to $250 a semester for this group of full-time students and $100 for those attending part time.

The money to pay for the new program will come from the voter-approved Proposition W, which imposes a transfer tax on properties selling for more than $5 million.

San Francisco Supervisor Jane Kim spearheaded that measure as a way to fund the free tuition plan.

“We will be the first city in the nation to make community college free again for all our residents,” she says.

The fight for free tuition follows an even longer battle for the school. For several years CCSF's accreditation has been under threat.

“It's been a rough five years," said Thea Selby, president of City College's Board of Trustees. “People have been through the wringer.”

A commission had been accusing the college of poor fiscal management and governance issues, and was threatening to pull the plug on the school. That changed in January when the commission reaffirmed CCSF’s accreditation for the next seven years.

But the uncertainty over the past few years led enrollment to plummet by a third. School officials are hoping this free tuition plan will help lure students back to City College. Interim Chancellor Susan Lamb notes there are still a lot of empty seats at the school.

“We want students to fill those seats," she said. “Come back and give us a try.”

Lamb says this free tuition plan could give a badly needed boost to enrollment and more state funding. It could also provide at least one path back to stable higher education at one of the largest community colleges in the country.