We also provide several recommendations for policy and practice.

Thank you to our participants for sharing their time and expertise with us and to @kresge.org for supporting our research.

(3) One out of the 7 programs that we studied changed their design from last-dollar to first-dollar to better support the financial needs of their students. We discuss the successes and challenges of that decision.

(2) Multiple participants counseled students against taking out student loans because “loan debt is scary” and/or they interpreted that CC students had lower financial need than their four-year counterparts and they should only take out loans when they transferred to four-year institutions.

Some highlights from our research: (1) Even with financial support from promise programs - students still struggle with basic needs such as housing, food, transportation, and childcare.

I am begging some of y’all to read a book. At this point I will accept literally any book at all.

Congratulations and welcome to Texas! 😊

Special thanks to the @kresge.org who funded this work. #highered #freecollege #promiseprograms

record.umich.edu/articles/dom...

He is out at Michigan - they just announced the interim president!

Also thank you to the @spencerfoundation.bsky.social who funded this research.

Thanks again to my two wonderful co-authors and happy to see that this article is out in the world!

This quote inspired the title of our article and hopefully stresses the importance of how policy advocates also need to consider the political ideologies, beliefs, and values of the policymakers when arguing for their preferred policy action.

One legislator said “there’s something ennobling and uplifting and gracious about struggling and overcoming” when discussing why states shouldn’t offer free college because it sets up a system where folks are “content with being a dependent of the state.”

Some Republicans framed these same recipients as less deserving of support because they were more likely to drop out of college without their degrees or take longer to complete their degrees.

Democrats discussed the main recipients of NMOS as adult learners, part-time, and student parents who are deserving of support because they are hardworking and disciplined to juggle their multiple responsibilities.

Support and opposition tended to fall along party lines with Democrats supporting NMOS and Republicans opposing NMOS. We also examined how state legislators framed the NMOS recipients as deserving or undeserving of support.

Drawing on 9 hrs of legislative meetings - we found that state legislators who support the NMOS focused on individual benefits and the state legislators who oppose the NMOS focused on state burdens.