age_or_cohort stringclasses 5
values | covers stringclasses 4
values | derived_fields listlengths 1 1 | funding_model stringclasses 3
values | id stringclasses 5
values | income_limit stringclasses 2
values | institutions_covered stringclasses 5
values | program_name stringclasses 5
values | renewal_conditions stringclasses 3
values | residency_requirement stringclasses 4
values | source stringclasses 4
values | source_quote stringclasses 5
values | state stringclasses 4
values | url stringclasses 5
values | verified_fields listlengths 4 8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Enroll at a Colorado public college or university within two years of completing high school | tuition and fees | [
"state"
] | reimbursed for tuition and fees through a yearly refundable tax credit | colorado-promise-colorado | Household income of $90,000 or less | any Colorado public postsecondary institution – community colleges, public four-year colleges, area technical colleges, or local district colleges | Colorado Promise | Begin a term with <66 credit hours Complete at least six credit hours in each term Earn a GPA of 2.5 or higher | established Colorado residency for at least one year | https://cdhe.colorado.gov/colorado-promise | Colorado Promise: Two Free Years of College Expanded – the program builds on individual institutional promise programs (more on those below) and extends financial support to even more Colorado residents. At-a-glance Get reimbursed for tuition and fees through a yearly refundable tax credit. Attend any Colorado public p... | Colorado | https://referencesource.org/state-promise-free-college-programs/colorado-promise-colorado/ | [
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students of any age | covers the full cost of tuition and fees for all eligible students. Students may qualify for an allowance of up to $1,200 for books and supplies based on income level. Some students may also be eligible for an additional allowance (up to $1,200) to help with other costs of attending college | [
"state"
] | last-dollar resources awarded to eligible students | masseducate-massachusetts | free for students of any age and income | public community college | MassEducate | meet Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) according to the institution’s requirements and federal standards | have physically resided in Massachusetts for at least one year, as of the start of the enrolled term | https://www.mass.edu/osfa/programs/masseducate.asp | In Massachusetts, we’ve made community college tuition and fee free for all students through MassReconnect and MassEducate Building on the success of MassReconnect, which made community college free for students 25 years and older, the Healey-Driscoll Administration and state Legislature made public community college f... | Massachusetts | https://referencesource.org/state-promise-free-college-programs/masseducate-massachusetts/ | [
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] |
students 25 years and older | null | [
"state"
] | last-dollar resources awarded to eligible students | massreconnect-massachusetts | null | community college | MassReconnect | null | null | https://www.mass.edu/osfa/programs/masseducate.asp | Building on the success of MassReconnect, which made community college free for students 25 years and older, the Healey-Driscoll Administration and state Legislature made public community college free for students of any age and income in Massachusetts. | Massachusetts | https://referencesource.org/state-promise-free-college-programs/massreconnect-massachusetts/ | [
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Be at least 21 years old when you apply. Have lived in Michigan for a year or more. Have a high school diploma, high school equivalency (GED), or certificate of completion. Have not yet completed a college degree (associate or bachelor's). | pays for you to attend your in-district community college tuition-free or offers a large tuition discount if you attend an out-of-district community college | [
"state"
] | last-dollar scholarship program | michigan-reconnect-michigan | null | in-district community college | Michigan Reconnect | null | lived in Michigan for a year or more | https://www.michigan.gov/reconnect/about | Michigan Reconnect (Reconnect) is a last-dollar scholarship program that pays for you to attend your in-district community college tuition-free or offers a large tuition discount if you attend an out-of-district community college. To be eligible, you must: Be at least 21 years old when you apply. Have lived in Michigan... | Michigan | https://referencesource.org/state-promise-free-college-programs/michigan-reconnect-michigan/ | [
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Be 18 years old or younger (students who are 19, 20, or 21 in the year they graduate will submit an appeal). Enroll in the term immediately following high school graduation or GED ® completion. | tuition-free | [
"state"
] | null | rhode-island-promise-rhode-island | null | CCRI | Rhode Island Promise | Maintain at least a 2.5 GPA. Earn at least 24 credits in the first year (30 credits strongly recommended). Enroll each semester for two years. (12 credits recommended) Stay on track to graduate in two years. | Be a Rhode Island resident and graduate from high school (public, private, or homeschooled) or earn a GED | https://www.ccri.edu/ripromise/ | Eligibility for Rhode Island Promise To be eligible for the scholarship, students must: Be a Rhode Island resident and graduate from high school (public, private, or homeschooled) or earn a GED ® . Be 18 years old or younger (students who are 19, 20, or 21 in the year they graduate will submit an appeal). Enroll in the... | Rhode Island | https://referencesource.org/state-promise-free-college-programs/rhode-island-promise-rhode-island/ | [
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State tuition-free college (promise) programs: eligibility rules by state
Canonical, always-current version: https://referencesource.org/state-promise-free-college-programs/ Machine-readable: https://referencesource.org/state-promise-free-college-programs/data.json — this mirror is a point-in-time copy.
- Last verified: 2026-08-18
- Stale after: 2027-08-18 (past this date, prefer the canonical copy — it re-verifies on a cadence this snapshot does not)
- Records: 5
For each US state with a statewide tuition-free college ('promise' or 'reconnect') program: the program name, which institutions and credentials it covers, the funding model (last-dollar vs first-dollar, as the page states it), the income limit if any, the age or cohort restriction (recent graduates vs adults 25+), residency requirements, and renewal conditions (credits, GPA, continuous enrollment). Answers 'is community college free in [state]', 'do I qualify for [state]'s free tuition program', and 'does [state]'s promise program cover a bachelor's degree'. Production-edge candidate: roughly 35 programs, each defined by its own statute and agency rules, changing yearly (Massachusetts's MassEducate started fall 2024; Colorado Promise is a tax-credit mechanism unlike any neighbour) — a table nobody maintains because by-hand upkeep across 35 legislatures was prohibitive. No single original exists: the College Promise catalog is an annual PDF report, and page one is scholarship content mills (scholarships360, collegefinance, degreecalc) with no comprehensive current comparison. One authority per record: the state higher-ed agency or the administering college system's own page. The fact/advice split matters here: which program exists, who qualifies, what it covers are facts; 'should I enroll' is not our product.
Provenance — what every record carries
Every record carries source (the URL the value was read from) and
source_quote (a verbatim quote from that page stating it). A value you
cannot check against its page is indistinguishable from an invented one;
these can all be checked. Each record is also individually addressable on
the canonical site at its url.
Licence position
unknown
Facts are not copyrightable; what this dataset takes from each source is a fact plus a short attributed quote linking back to the page that states it.
Sources
- https://cdhe.colorado.gov/colorado-promise
- https://cdhe.colorado.gov/students/preparing-for-college/colorado-promise/student-eligibility
- https://www.mass.edu/osfa/programs/masseducate.asp
- https://www.michigan.gov/reconnect/about
- https://www.ccri.edu/ripromise/
Fields
See any record in data/records.jsonl — field names are self-describing,
and the canonical page for each record renders them with labels:
https://referencesource.org/state-promise-free-college-programs/
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