College for All Act of 2025
The College for All Act of 2025 would rewrite parts of the Higher Education Act to create a nationwide effort to eliminate tuition and required fees for eligible students at public colleges and universities through a Federal-State partnership. The core idea is to fund and oversee grants to states and tribal colleges to fully cover these costs for eligible students, starting with grant awards in 2026-2027 and a staged federal-state cost-sharing arrangement that shifts more of the cost to states over time. The bill also adds a separate grant program aimed at private nonprofit historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and minority-serving institutions (MSIs), expands Pell Grant and student-success programs, and includes incentives to strengthen transfer pathways, alignment between secondary and higher education, and the capacity of institutions to serve students with disabilities. In short, it aims to make college tuition-free for a broad set of students while tying funding to state commitments and program requirements. The bill additionally contemplates support for residents of U.S. territories and freely associated states, and it includes a number of administrative and eligibility rules designed to ensure funding targets are met (e.g., per-student funding formulas, maintenance-of-effort rules, and automatic stabilizers). It also signals substantial new investments in historically underserved institutions and in college access, while expanding the policy landscape around Pell grants, inclusive student supports, and institutional capacity.
Key Points
- 1Federal-state partnership to fully eliminate tuition and required fees for eligible students in public colleges and tribal institutions, with grants to states and tribal colleges starting in award year 2026-2027.
- 2Structured federal and state funding: the federal share starts high (100% in early years) and phases down to 80% by 2030-2031 and onward, while the state share ramps up from 0% to 20% over the same period. Outlying areas/territories have special rules to address hardship.
- 3Eligibility framework and scope: eligible students include those enrolled in community colleges (2-year) and public 4-year institutions, with broad eligibility that covers in-state residents and, in some cases, students affected by immigration status; definitions cover cost of attendance, residency concepts, and transfer/reverse-transfer mechanisms.
- 4Program requirements and accountability: states must maintain expenditures per student, eliminate tuition/fees for eligible students, and meet thresholds for need-based aid, faculty tenure, instructional quality, and other conditions; there are also mandates to align high school graduation requirements with college coursework and to strengthen transfer pathways between institutions.
- 5Title II funding for private nonprofit HBCUs and MSIs: a separate grant program to eliminate tuition and fees for eligible students at eligible private nonprofit HBCUs and MSIs, broadening free-college reach beyond public institutions.
- 6Complementary policy pillars: the bill envisions Pell Grant improvements, inclusive student success grants, greater support for low-income and first-generation students, and significant capital and program investments in HBCUs, Tribal colleges, and other MSIs.
- 7Territorial and U.S. territory access: provisions to improve college access for residents of the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and Freely Associated States.
- 8Transfer and enrollment infrastructure: explicit requirements to improve transfer creditability and reverse transfer, ensuring credits from community colleges can count toward bachelor’s programs where appropriate.