Macomb Community College to provide free 'last dollar' tuition starting this fall

By Kim Kozlowski

Macomb Community College will offer free tuition to students in a program thought to be one of the largest at a community college in Michigan.

The program, known as the Macomb Tuition Advantage, will provide free tuition to students who come from families with incomes of $70,000 or less, starting in the fall. The program will be open to the 15,000 students who are already attending Macomb Community College and those who plan to start at the college this fall and pursue an associate degree. 

"We are always looking for opportunities to create better access for our students," said James Sawyer IV, president of Macomb Community College. "We know financial barriers are obstacles for many of our students. Even the students we have, (costs) prevents them from taking as many classes as they would like to take."

The Macomb Tuition Advantage will be what is known as a "last dollar scholarship." That means that students will first have to fill out a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form and get federal and state financial aid and apply that to their tuition costs, such as the Michigan Achievement Scholarship, which will provide up to $2,750 annually for students to attend a community college beginning in the fall. Macomb's program will cover the remainder of tuition and fees owed. Students will also have to attend full time, take 12 credit hours per semester and maintain a 2.0 grade point average to remain eligible.

The students will also have to attend full time, take 12 credit hours per semester and maintain a 2.0 grade point average.

The amount that is leftover after federal and state financial aid is applied toward students' tuition can sometimes become a barrier, Sawyer said.

"We're excited to be able to provide funding to overcome that," Sawyer said. "We're hoping this makes a difference for many of our students."

The free tuition program is being offered in a county where the median household income is $67,828.

It's unclear how many students will be eligible, but Sawyer estimated about 50%. It will be paid for with $9 million from the Macomb County Community College Foundation.

Besides proving more access, the program is aimed at incentivizing full-time attendance, which leads to higher rates of degree completion, Sawyer said. Approximately 70% of students attend part time, and 33% of full- and part-time students graduate in six years.

Lake Michigan College in Benton Harbor offers a similar program, known as the LMC Promise, but it is targeted at students under the age of 25, according to Brand Johnson, president of the Michigan Community College Association.

Macomb Community College's program would be the largest version of a promise-type program from a community college in the state, Johnson said.

"Macomb Community College’s announcement today is a bold step to ensure all students have access to a college education," said Brandy Johnson, president of the Michigan Community College Association. "We applaud Macomb for designing a tuition-guarantee that is student-centric.  As our state's largest community college, this program at MCC will no doubt help the state reach its Sixty by 30 postsecondary educational attainment goal," Johnson said, referring to a statewide initiative designed to increase the number of working-age Michigan residents with a degree or skills certificate to 60% by 2030.