All the Places in the U.S. Where You Can Go to College for Free

You’ve probably seen headlines recently about free public college programs in New Yorkand Tennessee. But free college tuition programs aren’t quite as rare as some politicians would have you think.

Long before free public college became a liberal rallying cry during the 2016 election, dozens of local programs had for years been offering high schoolers access to some form of either free or dramatically reduced tuition.

The newest statewide entrants are unique in the sense that the programs are funded entirely by the government. Most other free tuition programs rely on a mix of private donations and public funding. Often called “promise” programs, the offers are incredibly diverse, says Morley Winograd, president of the Campaign for Free College Tuition—and they’re growing in number, he says, partly as a result of tremendous movement in state legislatures this year to develop programs.

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Arkansas’s El Dorado Promise is a comparatively generous program. Graduates of El Dorado High School can get money to pay tuition at any accredited college in the country. Public colleges in Arkansas are fully covered. For private or out-of-state colleges, students can get an amount equal to the highest in-state Arkansas charge. The program, funded by Murphy Oil Co., is one of only two first-dollar scholarships in the country, meaning it pays tuition bills before other scholarships and grants are counted.