The Affordability Advantage: How States Set (Affordable) Tuition and Fees for Community College Bachelor’s Degrees

Abstract

Community college baccalaureate programs can provide a lower-cost pathway to a bachelor's degree, but their affordability depends in part on how states structure and oversee tuition-setting. States can protect that affordability by ensuring upper-division tuition costs remain affordable for students, incorporating comprehensive affordability measures into program approval and review, and improving transparency around the full costs students face. Doing so can help states expand access to bachelor's degrees while preserving the affordability advantage of community college baccalaureate degrees, helping to make college possible for students who might otherwise be unable to afford it.