One early beneficiary says school has been life-changing
www.austinchronicle.com
ACC’s Recently Launched Free Tuition Program Is Changing the Student Population
One early beneficiary says school has been life-changing
Austin Community College’s free tuition program was hailed as a game-changer when it launched in fall 2024. Now, one semester in, the data – and the students themselves – are starting to paint a clearer picture of its impact. Enrollment has surged, math courses are overflowing and students like Cassidy Hernandez say the opportunity has been life-changing.
Cassidy, a first-year ACC student studying pastry arts, didn’t always think college was in the cards. “I was considering taking a year off to save up,” she says. But when she learned that ACC was offering free tuition to local high school graduates, the decision became much easier. “I figured, why not take advantage of it? I can focus on my studies instead of stressing about tuition.”
Cassidy is one of many. Enrollment of high school graduates at ACC jumped nearly 40% in fall 2024 compared to the previous year. The number of students enrolled in the free tuition program alone hit 4,982 in the fall, with retention looking strong – 81% of those students continued into spring 2025.
While students are reaping the benefits, faculty and administrators are adjusting to a rapidly shifting academic landscape. The math department, in particular, has felt the strain. “Our demand was way up,” says Carolynn Campbell Reed, chair of ACC’s Mathematics Department. “By the end of July, I had to add 74 new sections just to keep up.” She and her team scrambled to hire 22 new adjunct faculty members, an unprecedented expansion to accommodate the influx of students who, as she puts it, “need math for almost every major.”
The math boom wasn’t just about numbers – it revealed something deeper about the incoming student body. “We saw a big increase in students needing developmental math,” Reed notes. “That tells us a lot of them weren’t quite college-ready in math, but they’re here now, and that’s huge.”
Jenna Cullinane Hege, ACC’s vice chancellor of Institutional Research & Analytics, has been closely watching these trends. “We expected a boost, but the numbers we’re seeing confirm that this program is eliminating a major financial barrier for students,” she says. The pilot program – funded through $7 million in state appropriations under Texas’ House Bill 8, passed in the 88th legislative session – has made tuition and fees free for some in-district students, with out-of-district students still saving about 30% on costs.
One of the biggest unknowns going into the program was whether students, particularly those coming straight from high school, would stay engaged once tuition wasn’t a financial stake. “We were worried about higher drop rates,” Reed admits. “But so far, retention and success rates are holding steady. These students are just as committed as those who paid.”
For Cassidy, the program has shaped not just her college experience but her career ambitions. “It’s given me the chance to really explore my field and meet mentors in the culinary world,” she says. “I can take more classes and focus on my future instead of just getting by.”
Also as a first-generation student, she can pave the way for her younger siblings, showing them that college is a viable option for their family.
ACC’s free tuition program is still in its early stages, with its long-term impact yet to be fully realized. But as enrollment rises and classrooms adapt, one thing is clear: for thousands of students, affordability is no longer the deciding factor in their education – it’s just the beginning.
news.mit.edu
