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January 24, 2023

CT state college system wants $181.4M to expand free community college program

PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED Connecticut State Colleges and Universities President Terrence Cheng.

The Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) system on Tuesday afternoon unveiled its two-year budget proposal to the state legislature that asks for a significant funding increase for the state’s free community college program.

CSCU President Terrence Cheng said his budget request asks for $181.4 million over two years to fund the state’s Pledge to Advance Connecticut, or PACT program, which was established in 2019 to offer free tuition to community college students.

The program has been allocated $15 million in the current fiscal year.

Cheng -- whose agency oversees the state’s four public universities, community colleges and Charter Oak State College -- said the funding is warranted because the PACT program has been a success.

“We’d love to see PACT expanded in a way that brings even more students to the community colleges, which can also affect change and opportunity for our university students as well,” Cheng told the Hartford Business Journal.

Overall, the CSCU system is presenting a $624.2 million fiscal year 2024 general fund budget and $697.7 million fiscal 2025 budget. Both amounts are higher than the system’s current year $569.9 million general fund budget.

CSCU’s budget proposal has been branded “CSCU 2030: A reinvestment in public higher education," and its overall goal is to increase enrollment and meet state workforce goals through investments in affordability, student supports and wrap-around services, and innovative and expanded academic programs, Cheng said. CSCU is proposing state support increases of $54.3 million and $127.8 million over fiscal 2023 levels in the new biennium, with support sustained through fiscal 2030.

Cheng said the increased funding request reflects the fact that CSCU’s state operating block grants have been essentially flat since 2007 due to increased fringe benefit rates and union contract costs, combined with significant inflationary pressure. CSCU institutions have also exhausted their capital project allocations and need to establish funding for physical and digital infrastructure, he said.

As a result, CSCU is also proposing a seven-year, $2.21-billion capital budget that would fund investments in an expanded Transportation Jobs Center at Gateway Community College, an updated facility for Capital Community College, improvements to academic and student support buildings at all state universities, and technology upgrades to increase productivity, innovation, and security.

Free college program

The spending plan includes $81.1 million in PACT funding in fiscal year 2024 and $100.3 million in fiscal year 2025.

The PACT program is a “last dollar” scholarship program that makes community college free to eligible students regardless of income and regardless of when they graduated from high school.

The “last dollar” aspect of the program means that after all the other sources of federal, state and institutional financial aid grants are made to a student, a PACT award will be given to cover any remaining tuition or fee costs. The PACT funds can be used for tuition and various fees, whether a student activity fee or a transportation fee or supplemental course fees. Textbooks and supplies are not considered eligible expenditures.

To qualify, potential students must be a Connecticut resident; a graduate of a Connecticut high school; attending college for the first time; and seeking at least six college credits.

CSCU officials said if a student is approved, the minimum grant is $500 while the maximum amount is $5,000 a year.

CSCU officials said the PACT funding increase would expand the program to provide free college to all community college students and more than 7,000 university students per year.

A CT Mirror report was used in this story. 

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