Education is a right, not a privilege. That’s why we worked with our fellow students to create Connecticut Students for Free College (CTS4FC). Our mission is to advocate for free higher education in Connecticut, providing equal opportunities for our communities.
Between 1980 and 2024, student share in education revenue has increased by 19%. Colleges and universities have grown increasingly reliant on student tuition to augment their public funding, often at the bare minimum, translating to increased tuition fees for students and poorly funded higher education institutions. In Connecticut, state funding for the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities System decreased by 18.76% between 2007 and 2019 (when adjusted for inflation) and state financial aid in Connecticut has decreased by 63.3% since 2001 (link to figure) – leaving students to foot the bill.
Many college students now work demanding jobs in order to keep up with their tuition costs. A full course load, working 20-40 hours per week, and additional family responsibilities often leads to students dropping out of programs because they are overwhelmed and unable to continue precariously juggling their obligations just to afford tuition.
It is an unfortunate reality that the pursuit of higher education has become a financial burden for the majority of students. A disheartened father who is now pursuing classes at Central Connecticut State University lamented the fact that he grew up in times where higher education didn’t suffer from disparate funding. In those times, a few decades ago, the state allocated resources for higher education and didn’t treat sufficient funding as optional, but instead as an investment in the future of our state.
In recent years, advocates have fought to fund initiatives like PACT (which covers tuition and fees for eligible students after other grants are applied) and the CT Student Loan Reimbursement program to make college more affordable. The importance of maintaining these programs cannot be understated. In one instance, a student had paused her own enrollment in a bachelor’s degree program to financially support her daughter through college – and was only able to return to Western Connecticut State University because her daughter received financial assistance through the PACT program.
As advocates in the fight for free higher education, student interns across CSU campuses spearheaded a petition campaign to garner support from the student body. We took to classrooms and club meetings to not only help educate students on the severe underfunding of their education, but to engage them in the fight as well.
With the hundreds of petition signatures we have gathered, it is glaringly apparent that students statewide are willing to take the initiative and use their voices to advocate for their education. We believe this collective effort makes our demand as loud as it can possibly be. Connecticut must fully fund the PACT/Finish Line Scholarship and the CT Student Loan Reimbursement program. Students are refusing to be silenced. We refuse to be treated as symbols of revenue. We demand education to be treated as a human right.
You can take steps today to help us in this fight. Write and call your state representatives to tell them to support these and other programs that help make higher education attainable for more people in our state.
Kate Jackson, a junior at WCSU, and Jeremy Gilbert, a senior at CCSU, are both interns for CSU-AAUP