House passed free tuition plan: What you need to know

Governor Gina Raimondo’s scaled back free tuition plan passed overwhelmingly on the House floor Thursday night taking it one step closer to being implemented. If approved, the plan would provide two free years to tuition at CCRI to Rhode Islanders with several restrictions and requirements.

"We’re thrilled to have a starting point and really want to prove to this state that we are going to make the best of that starting point,” said Sara Enright the VP of Student Affairs at CCRI.

To be eligible students first and foremost must qualify for in state tuition.

"You will get federal financial aide and then the state will cover the remainder of your fees,” said Enright.

Other requirements include maintaining a minimum GPA of 2.5 and a commitment to live, work or continue education in the state after graduation.

That last requirement is getting some criticism from those questioning how it can be enforced. We Enright that question.

"That piece of the policy was just introduced this week, just passed last night so we will figure out the pragmatic details of how we implement that,” said Enright.

The scholarship program is a pilot that begins with students graduating this year and ends with those graduating in 2020.

That means four classes of students will get to take part before the program is re-evaluated.

"We’ll look at enrollment growth among the High School population, we’ll look at graduation rates, retention rates, how many students transfer and are successful in bachelors degree completion beyond here,” said Enright.

The state budget will head to the Senate Finance Committee next week for approval. From there it will go before the full house and then to the Governor’s desk for signature.

(C) WLNE 2017