H.1436 - An Act relative to debt-free public higher education

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Senate Bill: S.929, James B. Eldridge

Background: According to The Institute for College Access and Success, more than 60 percent of seniors graduating from public and nonprofit colleges in 2019 had student loan debt with an average of $28,950 per borrower. Massachusetts is higher with an average student loan debt of $33,259 per borrower.

The problem grows increasingly worse in Massachusetts, as a 2018 report from the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center shows that average student loan debt in Massachusetts grew by 77 percent between ’04 and ’16 — faster than all but one other state.

What this bill would do: H.1436 (co-filed with Representative Natalie Higgins) seeks to mandate that no tuition or mandatory curriculum fees shall be charged to any resident of the state at any community college, state university, or the University of Massachusetts.