Oregon will be offering the first two years of community college free to recent high school graduates in the fall of 2016.

It is one of the best things that could be done for first-year students but may not be the best thing for many colleges, including Linfield.

This could unintentionally discriminate against students in their first two years at other universities by funding only the first two years for community-college students.

One question that may arise in the coming school year is whether or not Linfield is going to be offering more financial aid to combat the competition this new grant presents.

Dan Preston, the Vice President for Enrollment Management, said, “The college has not determined budget levels or tuition prices for the 16-17 year. At this point we don’t expect any major changes to the scholarships or grants awarding by the college.  We always make adjustments to awarding plans but this new program won’t cause us to significantly overhaul anything about what we do with aid awarding.”

Concerning new applicants for the school, Preston said, “The biggest problem we could face is that Oregon high school seniors who might enroll at Linfield will choose a community college instead. If we change anything it would be to connect earlier, and more frequently, with qualified students at Oregon community colleges who may have interest in Linfield.”

It is important to make the first two years of college as affordable as possible because that is when students are still trying to figure out what they want to do with their lives.

This would pay for two years of community and technical colleges for first-time U.S. students.

This program will only be available to students who have received an Oregon high school diploma or GED in the spring or summer of 2016, have applied no more than 6 months after graduating, have been an Oregon resident for at least 12 months prior to community college enrollment, and have a cumulative high school GPA of 2.5 or better.

These requirements may only help a select amount of students that apply. This may hurt others such as adult learners and other aspiring students not from the 2016 graduation year.

What many students may not know is that free isn’t really free in this case.

Tuition along with costs of living, transportation, books, housing and food can add up to even more than the funding covers. This may not be a factor considered by students applying for this new program.

The continuation of the free community college program will be dependent on the next legislative cycle vote.