Friday’s lawsuit escalates a multiweek battle at the intersection of free college programs, institutions’ financial aid practices and regulations governing federal aid like the Pell Grant, which generally funds low-income students’ college costs.
For seven years, Eastern Gateway, which has campuses in Steubenville and Youngstown, Ohio, has operated a Free College Benefit Program for students affiliated with labor unions. The community college characterizes the program as a last-dollar scholarship that pays the remaining tuition for a student after other financial aid has been applied. The program has fueled massive growth at Eastern Gateway, which today enrolls some 30,000 students versus about 4,800 in 2015-16.
