Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Free community college policies have gained momentum since the implementation of the first state-wide scholarship program, the Tennessee Promise, which provides last-dollar assistance to students pursuing twoyear post-secondary degrees. While previous research has addressed the effects of similar programs on student outcomes (Carruthers and Fox 2016), scholars have yet to investigate the potential spillover effects of free community college programs on non-eligible universities. In this paper, I leverage a difference-in-differences design to evaluate the potential spillover effects of the Tennessee Promise program on enrollment and cost of attendance at non-eligible universities. Preliminary findings indicate significant shifts in racial and ethnic minority enrollment, in-state and out-of-state enrollment, and cost of attendance at in-eligible institutions. The implications of these findings are relevant for scholars and policymakers interested in the potential spillover effects of designing tuition-free community college policies with limited institutional eligibility.