Senator Murray Introduces Legislation to Establish Tuition-Free Community and Tech College

The America’s College Promise Act creates a new state-federal partnership to connect students with skills to land a good paying job and meet economy’s demands

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a former chair and senior member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), joined Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) in reintroducing legislation to make two-year technical and community college accessible to more Americans by waiving tuition for eligible students.

“I have seen up close how a higher education opens new doors and can have such a positive impact on students’ lives,” said Senator Murray. “Community and technical colleges create pathways for students to pursue their dreams and they equip them with the skills they need to get good-paying jobs, providing training for those who want to enter the workforce. The problem is: for far too many students, these opportunities are simply out of reach—and that’s got to change. Tuition-free community and technical college would be a huge first step towards making college more affordable and expanding opportunity for everyone—when we invest in education and skills training, we are investing in a stronger economy for everyone.”

The America’s College Promise Act of 2023 will make the skills and credentials necessary to succeed in our economy more accessible to all students by creating a new federal-state partnership to provide two years of tuition-free community or technical college. Specifically, the America’s College Promise Act of 2023:

• Creates a partnership between the federal government and states to waive tuition and fees for two years of community and technical college programs for eligible students, while promoting key reforms to accelerate student success;
• Establishes the federal government’s share of funding for the partnership, starting at 100% for the first year and ending at 80% for the fifth and subsequent years;
• Ensures that programs offer academic credits that are transferable to four-year institutions in their state, or occupational training that leads to recognized credentials;
• Maintains and encourages state funding for higher education;
• Establishes a student success fund to improve enrollment, retention, transfer, or completion rates and labor market outcomes for underserved student populations, including students of color and low-income and first-generation college students;
• Waives two years of tuition and fees for eligible students at tribal colleges and universities; and
• Establishes a new grant program to provide pathways to success at Historically Black Colleges and Universities and minority-serving institutions by covering a significant portion of tuition and fees for the first two years of attendance for low-income students.

Senator Murray has long fought to help students afford a higher education—and make the student loan system work better for them. As Chair of the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS) Appropriations Subcommittee in the previous Congress, Senator Murray consistently fought to make Pell Grants go further for students—securing a $500 boost last year, which was the largest increase in over a decade and built on the $400 increase she secured in the prior funding package. Senator Murray has also pushed to fix our broken student loans system, urging the Biden administration to make much-needed changes to repayment options for students, extend the payment pause, and deliver debt relief for students—critical steps that the administration has since taken. Senator Murray has also introduced the America’s College Promise Act in past years, and, in 2021, she reintroduced the Pell Grant Preservation and Expansion Act, which would double the Pell Grant award, index it to inflation, and make other critical changes to expand the award for working students and families.

The America’s College Promise Act of 2023 is also cosponsored by Senators Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Benjamin Cardin (D-MD), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), in addition to seven co-sponsors in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The bicameral legislation is supported by the American Federation of Teachers; AFL-CIO; Association of Community College Trustees; The Education Trust; The Hope Center at Temple University; The National Education Association; The Century Foundation Higher Education Team; Higher Learning Advocates; the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), Asian Pacific Islander American Scholars, American Association of Community Colleges, Young Invincibles, and Jobs for the Future.

A one-pager on this legislation is available here. Full text of this legislation is available here.

###