{"id":72389,"date":"2026-02-06T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bridgemi.com\/?p=72389"},"modified":"2026-02-06T12:40:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T17:40:07","slug":"opinion-investing-in-tuition-free-college-can-be-a-good-economic-bet-for-michigan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bridgemi.com\/guest-commentary\/opinion-investing-in-tuition-free-college-can-be-a-good-economic-bet-for-michigan\/","title":{"rendered":"Opinion | Investing in tuition-free college can be a good economic bet for Michigan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The movement to make college tuition-free is gaining speed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the Tennessee Promise launched in 2014, 21 states have introduced \u201cPromise\u201d programs, most of which create a tuition-free pathway to an associate degree or short-term credential. This is a bipartisan project: Promise programs covering community college costs have been created in places as diverse as Oregon (2015), Arkansas (2016), Indiana (2017), Maryland (2018), and Kansas (2021).<\/p>\n\n\n

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Timothy J. Bartik is a senior economist and Michelle Miller-Adams is a senior researcher at the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research. (Courtesy photos)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

States invest in tuition-free college in part to boost their economies. College degrees increase residents\u2019 lifetime earnings and state revenues from taxes on those higher earnings. Less obviously, when a larger proportion of a state’s population has a post-secondary degree, some benefits accrue to those without such credentials. Having more educated workers strengthens communities<\/a>, making it easier to attract new businesses and enabling existing employers to improve productivity and expand. These developments lead to higher earnings, not just for those residents who earn degrees but for many other state residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recent data from Michigan\u2019s Futures for Frontliners (F4F) can help us understand why tuition-free college is likely a good economic bet. F4F, introduced in September 2020, granted essential pandemic workers a tuition-free path to a community college degree. The state followed up in 2021 with Michigan Reconnect<\/a> for adults without degrees and in 2024 with the Community College Guarantee<\/a>, further broadening access to tuition-free college to recent high-school graduates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Bridge reported in December<\/a>, 27,000 residents enrolled in college under F4F, and about a quarter of those had earned a degree or credential by 2023-24, roughly in line with community college completion rates more generally. The article\u2019s negative conclusion, however \u2014 which emphasized that the program was expensive, \u201cfew students chose to attend,\u201d and completion rates were poor \u2014 does not adequately reflect the potentially huge benefits of F4F.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

F4F cost the state $49 million. Counting only the 5,868 associate degrees awarded (so far) that were supported by the program, that amounts to $8,350 in state funds per degree. What are the potential returns on this investment? <\/sup> (The calculations behind the following numbers can be explored here<\/a>.)   <\/p>\n\n\n\n