Colleges Where Tuition is Still Free

Forbes

Students at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Sciences in New York City are still protesting the school’s decision to start charging up to 50% of its annual $38,000 tuition fee. Since it was founded in 1859, it had covered total tuition for all of its approximately 1,000 students. But in April, administrators announced that financial demands made it impossible to continue the policy. Students subsequently staged an occupation of President Jamshed Bharucha’s office. They vow to stay there over the summer and into next year, unless the school reverses its decision. At this year’s commencement in May, when President Bharucha got up to speak, many graduates turned their backs. The school did announce that it will continue need-blind admissions, and students who can’t afford it will still be able to attend tuition-free. But the era of guaranteed free tuition at Cooper Union has come to an end.

Cooper Union is not the only school that gave students a free tuition ride. Eight colleges, from the expensive, elite Curtis Institute of Music to the relatively inexpensive Alice Lloyd College in Pippa Passes, Ky., still do not charge any tuition at all, though some schools have a work requirement. They all have fewer than 2,000 students, and some are tiny, like Deep Springs College in Big Pine, Calif., a two-year college with only 26 students. Deep Springs also covers room and board, a scholarship valued at some $40,000 a year.

There are also the five U.S. military academies—the U.S. Military Academy (West Point), the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, the U.S. Naval Academy, the U.S. Air Force Academy and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy—where tuition, room and board are all free. But graduates pay a price through their service obligation, which starts at a minimum of five years. Still, the military academies are arguably a great deal. A West Point spokesman says its four-year degree is equal to an “equivalent scholarship value” of $205,000. West Point’s service requirement includes five years of active duty and three years in the reserves.

Outside the military academies, here are eight schools where tuition remains free:


Alice Lloyd College, Pippa Passes, KY.

Undergraduates:  598
Tuition: $4,460
The school covers tuition for students from 108 counties in central Appalachia. Students are expected to work 10 hours a week in campus jobs that include cutting grass, serving as lifeguards and staffing the on-campus day care. Students from outside the no-tuition zone can make up to $1,160 in campus jobs to offset their tuition bills.





Barclay College, Haviland, KS.

Undergraduates: 198
Tuition: $11,000
Since 2007, this four-year bible college has offered free tuition to full-time students who pay to live in the dormitories. Known for its ministry degrees, it also offers degrees in education, business administration, and psychology and family studies.



Berea College, Berea, KY.

Undergraduates: 1,661
Tuition: $22,100
Berea guarantees each student the equivalent of a four-year full-tuition scholarship. Students are required to work a minimum of 10 hours a week in campus jobs.



College of the Ozarks, Point Lookout, MO.

Undergraduates: 1,377
Tuition $18,030
Students work 15 hours a week at one of 80 campus jobs, including milking cows, gardening and staffing the school’s hotel and restaurant. They are also expected to put in one 40-hour work week a semester. If they want to cover the cost of room and board, they can take on a full-time campus-provided job over the summer.



Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia, PA.

Students: 165
Tuition: $36,500
All students automatically receive full merit-based tuition scholarships. They must pay room and board, but some 125 students also get some type of financial aid to help cover those costs.


Deep Springs College, Big Pine, CA.

Undergraduates: 26
Tuition, room and board: $50,000
At this alternative, two-year college, students work a minimum of 20 hours a week either in campus jobs or on the cattle ranch and alfalfa farm attached to the school. Jobs range from washing dishes to delivering calves. Deep Springs covers room and board as well as tuition. The school was all-male until it voted to admit women starting in 2013,  though that decision has been delayed by a legal challenge from one of the trustees. Most Deep Springs students transfer to four-year colleges, including top schools like Harvard and Yale.



Macaulay Honors College at the City University of New York (CUNY), New York, NY.

Undergraduates: 1,730
Tuition: $5,730
To get the full-tuition scholarship, students must be New York state residents. Macaulay students are spread out over eight campuses in five boroughs. In addition to the tuition coverage, each student gets a laptop, free tech support and a $7,500 “opportunities fund,” to encourage study abroad, internships and community service. Out-of-state students admitted to the program pay tuition of $15,300



Webb Institute, Glen Cove, NY.

Undergraduates: 85
Tuition: $41,000
The highly selective school covers complete tuition. All do a double major in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering. Students are also required to work in some aspect of the marine industry for two months, in January and February. Students keep what they earn in the internships.