Last fall, I came to community college without even a high school diploma. In just three weeks, I earned my GED and began working on prerequisites for the dental hygiene program. Recently, I received my acceptance into that program—a major step toward my dream of becoming a dental hygienist. Staying close to home made this possible, since traveling to Tacoma or Tri-Cities wasn’t an option for me.
While I’ve been fortunate to qualify for scholarships and grants, I know many students who fall into the gap—whose parents earn slightly above the threshold for aid but still can’t afford to help with tuition. Those students struggle just to stay enrolled. Free community and technical college would close that gap. It would allow students to complete their associate’s degrees and prerequisites without overwhelming financial stress, while also working and saving for further education. And for those who don’t plan to pursue higher degrees, it would still give them the credentials to secure good jobs.
I’ve benefited from excellent advising at the start of my journey, and I see how important it is for students to have access to wraparound supports like mental health services, work-study, and equity programs. But the foundation has to be access—making sure cost is never the barrier.
Free college would expand opportunities for countless students like me, while also strengthening Washington’s workforce in critical fields like health care.