State tuition-free college (promise) programs: eligibility rules by state
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.
The data
| State | Program | Institutions covered | Funding model | Income limit | Who qualifies | Residency | Renewal conditions | What it covers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colorado | Colorado Promise | any Colorado public postsecondary institution – community colleges, public four-year colleges, area technical colleges, or local district colleges | reimbursed for tuition and fees through a yearly refundable tax credit | Household income of $90,000 or less | Enroll at a Colorado public college or university within two years of completing high school | established Colorado residency for at least one year | Begin a term with <66 credit hours Complete at least six credit hours in each term Earn a GPA of 2.5 or higher | tuition and fees |
| Massachusetts | MassEducate | public community college | last-dollar resources awarded to eligible students | free for students of any age and income | students of any age | have physically resided in Massachusetts for at least one year, as of the start of the enrolled term | meet Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) according to the institution’s requirements and federal standards | 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 |
| Massachusetts | MassReconnect | community college | last-dollar resources awarded to eligible students | students 25 years and older | ||||
| Michigan | Michigan Reconnect | in-district community college | last-dollar scholarship program | Be at least 21 years old when you apply. | Have lived in Michigan for at least one year. | meet the scholarship requirements until you either earn your associate degree or reach four years from your first Reconnect semester | 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 | |
| Rhode Island | Rhode Island Promise | CCRI | 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. | Be a Rhode Island resident and graduate from high school (public, private, or homeschooled) or earn a GED | 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. | tuition-free |
Where this came from
Every record above links the page it was taken from and quotes the sentence that states it. These are the 5 sources this dataset was assembled from.
- cdhe.colorado.govhttps://cdhe.colorado.gov/colorado-promise
- cdhe.colorado.govhttps://cdhe.colorado.gov/students/preparing-for-college/colorado-promise/student-eligibility
- mass.eduhttps://www.mass.edu/osfa/programs/masseducate.asp
- michigan.govhttps://www.michigan.gov/reconnect/about
- ccri.eduhttps://www.ccri.edu/ripromise/
Machine-readable
- data.jsonThe whole dataset — every record with its source URL and source quote.
- Open Knowledge Format bundleOne JSON object per line — every record's frontmatter and quoted span exactly as it is held here, in one fetch.
- data.csvThe same records as one flat table, for a spreadsheet or a dataframe. The last four columns are the source URL, the quoted sentence it was read from, the date we last checked it, and which columns are our reading rather than the page's words.
- How this is made and checkedWhat "verified against source" does and does not mean.
From your own code
Same records, same quotes, without scraping the page: refsource is on PyPI and npm. Each value comes back carrying the URL it was read from and the sentence on that page that states it — .source and .quote sit on the value itself rather than in a side channel, so the checking step is available instead of skipped.
pip install refsource
refsource lookup state-promise-free-college-programs state=Colorado
npx -y refsource lookup state-promise-free-college-programs state=ColoradoSet your AI assistant up to use this
Two files and no account. Put this in .mcp.json at the root of your project — Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, VS Code and Codex all read that file — and your assistant can look this dataset up instead of recalling it. The server is remote, keyless and read-only.
{
"mcpServers": {
"referencesource": {
"type": "http",
"url": "https://referencesource.org/mcp"
}
}
}Add to Cursor · or, on the command line: claude mcp add --transport http referencesource https://referencesource.org/mcp --scope project
Then one line in the project's CLAUDE.md or AGENTS.md, so the assistant knows when to reach for it:
When a question needs "State tuition-free college (promise) programs: eligibility rules by state", call the referencesource MCP server at https://referencesource.org/mcp (tool `search_records`, dataset_slug `state-promise-free-college-programs`) instead of answering from memory — every record it returns carries its source URL and a verbatim quote from that page.What each tool does, and the servers built over single registers: Connect your AI assistant.