[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-590378-105":59,"doc-detail-590378-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":123,"head_meta":125,"extra_data":127,"updated_unix":129},105,"en","the-financial-needs-of-students-in-community-college-promise-programs-article","The Financial Needs of Students in Community College Promise Programs - Article","","Promise programs provide tuition and fee coverage for community college attendance, but the additional costs of living can still threaten students’ ability to persist. This multiple-case qualitative study examines seven community colleges with localized promise initiatives, interviewing 32 student-facing practitioners and analyzing 43 documents. Findings show that housing and food insecurity are commonly experienced financial challenges; practitioners advise reducing reliance on student loans, highlight gaps in financial literacy, and note differences in revenue stability and generosity, including a policy shift from last- to first-dollar coverage.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/the-financial-needs-of-students-in-community-college-promise-programs-article/590378/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/the-financial-needs-of-students-in-community-college-promise-programs-article/590378.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Pentious","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-30","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":19},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What does the study investigate about promise programs?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"The study examines students’ financial needs within seven community colleges using localized promise programs, focusing on practitioner perspectives and program resources.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"Which financial challenges appear most frequently among promise students?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"Practitioners report that basic needs such as housing and food insecurity are the most frequently experienced financial challenges.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"How did one program’s policy change affect its coverage approach?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"One program changed from last-dollar to first-dollar coverage, and the study explores the rationale and strategies behind that policy change.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},590378,1792190613,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":19,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145,"preview_page_count":4},1374404730887,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_6f874abed73319feea01a86fa6f0fab8","AERA Open  \nJanuary-December 2025, Vol. 11, No. 1, pp. 1–18 DOI: 10. 1177/23328584251378076  \nArticle reuse guidelines: [sagepub.com/journals-permissions](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[ ](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)© The Author(s) 2025. [https://journals.sagepub.com/home/ero](https://journals.sagepub.com/home/ero)  \nThe Financial Needs of Students in Community College Promise  \nPrograms  \nAmy Y. Li  \nFlorida International University  \nMeredith S. Billings  \nThe University of Texas at Arlington  \nPromise programs are a form of financial aid that cover tuition and fees for students to attend college. In this multiple case study of seven community colleges with localized promise programs that offered student support services, we conducted interviews with 32 student-facing practitioners, including six current, former, or interim promise program directors, about student financial needs and program resources, and analyzed 43 documents. We incorporated theoretical ideas from sensemaking, policy implementation theory, and street-level bureaucrats. Through qualitative data analysis triangulated with documents, we found that, according to practitioners, basic needs such as housing and food insecurity were the most frequently experienced financial challenge among promise students. Practitioners counseled students to avoid student loans, identified a need for greater financial literacy, and recognized the varying stability and generosity of revenue sources for promise programs. One program changed from last- to first-dollar; we explored the rationale and strategies behind this policy change.  \nKeywords: Community colleges, higher education, postsecondary education, finance, policy, case studies, qualitative research, financial aid, free college, sensemaking, policy implementation  \nIn recent years, college affordability continues to be a pressing issue, with students facing steady increases in published tuition prices, in part due to a downward trend among state appropriations allocated to public higher education. At public, 2-year colleges, the average in-district tuition and fees increased from $2,780 in 1994–1995 to $4,050 in 2024– 2025, adjusted for inflation (Ma et al., 2024) . Beyond tuition and fees, first-time, full-time students at public, 2-year colleges still need to cover about $9,680 in housing and food after grant aid, plus $6,130 for books and supplies, transportation, and other expenses (Ma et al., 2024). In 2024, student loan debt in the United States totaled over $1.7 billion (Hanson, 2025), affecting over 46 million borrowers (Sorelle & Laws, 2023) . As a result, policymakers have discussed, advocated for, and implemented “free-college” programs, also known as promise programs (Miller-Adams & Iriti, 2022) . Promise programs offer a form of scholarship typically covering tuition and fees using a place-based approach—students are eligible based on where they attended high school and/or where they live (Miller-Adams, 2015) . As of 2023, there were 425 Promise programs recorded at the local (sub-state) and statewide levels in the  \nUnited States (College Promise, 2023) . The terminology of“free college” communicates a simple, powerful message to prospective students that college is possible and affordable if students work hard (Lowry & Li, 2022). The goal of promise programs is to address access challenges in higher education, and to communicate the affordability of college to increase enrollment and retention (see Miller-Adams & Iriti, 2022 for a comprehensive literature review) .  \nWhile promise programs have a demonstrated ability to reduce college expenses, these programs only go so far as to promote college entry and degree attainment. Research suggests that promise programs make it easier for prospective students to understand the college application and financial aid process (Lowry & Li, 2022), increase students’ expectations of degree attainment (Odle, 2022), reduce student borrowing (Bueno et al., 2024; O","cbCaiiVGNciLK2KL","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiiVGNciLK2KL","pdf",490115,18,"English","# Introduction\n## Promise programs and college affordability\n# Study Design and Methods\n## Multiple case study and data sources\n# Findings\n## Financial challenges: housing and food insecurity\n## Guidance: loans avoidance and financial literacy\n## Program funding stability and policy change\n# Discussion and Implications","[{\"question\":\"What does the study investigate about promise programs?\",\"answer\":\"The study examines students’ financial needs within seven community colleges using localized promise programs, focusing on practitioner perspectives and program resources.\"},{\"question\":\"Which financial challenges appear most frequently among promise students?\",\"answer\":\"Practitioners report that basic needs such as housing and food insecurity are the most frequently experienced financial challenges.\"},{\"question\":\"How did one program’s policy change affect its coverage approach?\",\"answer\":\"One program changed from last-dollar to first-dollar coverage, and the study explores the rationale and strategies behind that policy change.\"}]","The Financial Needs of Students in Community College Promise Programs - Article | PDF",1792069509,45]