On Monday, San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee announced City College in the state would be free to any residents that attend. San Francisco is the first city in the nation to provide free tuition for its students.
Paying for tuition is a joy for no one, so San Francisco is taking the stress off some of its students with its new plan. Projected to start in the fall, City College of San Francisco will be free to city residents. ABC-7 reported nearly 30,000 people should benefit from this, and San Francisco Supervisor Jane Kim said she hopes this is an opportunity for residents to improve lives:
“Making City College free is going to provide greater opportunities for more San Franciscans to enter into the middle class and more San Franciscans to stay in the middle class if they currently are.”
San Francisco is the first city to propose this idea, although multiple politicians, such as Bernie Sanders and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, have proposed similar ideas. The city isn’t kidding around and will guarantee $5.4 million a year to City College. On top of that total, the city will be providing low-income students (who receive a state-funded fee waiver) an extra $250 per semester if they are attending full-time. The extra cash will come from an increased real estate tax on residential and commercial properties that are valued at over $5 million.
(Via San Francisco Gate & ABC-7 News)