Massachusetts is looking at a financial time bomb due to this crisis and they’re doubling down. What could go wrong?
Campus Reform reports:
New Massachusetts free community college provision extends to illegal aliensMassachusetts enacted a budget bill that enables state residents to attend community college for free, which will also allow illegal immigrants to receive free community college.On Monday, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey signed into law a 2025 state budget that will dedicate nearly $100 million toward making college tuition free at the state’s 15 community colleges. The program, Mass Educate, will attempt to bring the state closer to achieving “equity.”“This budget is a vote of confidence in every Massachusetts resident going to school, raising a family, and working to make ends meet—as well as a blueprint for bringing equity and opportunity to every region and resident of our state,” the governor said following the budget signing.The bill applies to Massachusetts residents who do not have a bachelor’s degree, which would extend to unlawful migrants, according to NewBostonPost.As noted by the outlet, various state community colleges like Bristol Community College now feature a web page that states that those eligible for the program include those who “[p]hysically reside in Massachusetts for at least one year, as of the start of the enrolled term,” “[a] U.S. Citizen, permanent legal resident, or non-citizen eligible under Title IV regulations,” or “[a]n approved ‘High School Completer’ per the Massachusetts tuition equity law.A spokesperson for the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance, Paul Craney, told NewBostonPost that the provision of the new law which allows for illegal aliens to attend community college free-of-charge will harm taxpayers in the state.“Massachusetts is a magnet state for illegal and inadmissible migrants, due to our very generous taxpayer-funded benefits,” Craney noted. “There is nothing as expensive as making something free, including community college. The cost will inevitably balloon and the taxpayers will forever be obligated to pay for this irresponsible decision.”“There is nothing more irresponsible than a politician making something ‘free’ and implying to people that someone else will pay for it,” Craney added. “Everyone should have some skin in the game. Continuing to disconnect people from the actual costs of higher education is only going to make it more expensive for everyone in the long run.”The spokesperson also said that “State House leaders are irresponsible to pursue this.”
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