Gav 4 Free (Gavilan College)

[dfrecore]

Looks like Gavilan College is providing free tuition for Summer/Fall 2023 and Winter/Spring 2024 for ALL students! https://www.gavilan.edu/admit/summer_is_free.php

Who is Eligible? 
Gav 4 Free is available to those who complete one of the applications for Financial Aid. Complete and submit one of these applications: FAFSA, or CA Dream Act. There are no income requirements. 

How many units are free? 
All enrolled credit units are eligible for Gav 4 Free. Registration policy requires students who wish to enroll in 18+ units during Fall & Spring semesters, and 6+ units during Summer & Winter sessions, to meet with a counselor to submit a Petition for Exceptions to Registration Policies form for review & approval. 

Are Non CA Residents eligible for Gav 4 Free? 
Yes.  Out of State and Undocumented students are eligible after completing a FAFSA or CA Dream Act application. 

Unfortunately, as we found with the COVID free college programs, California colleges generally do not participate in cross-state online course agreements, meaning if you don't live in CA, you won't be allowed to take online classes from CA colleges.
From the college website (https://www.gavilan.edu/student/online/index.php):

"If you live in a different state, the U.S. Dept of Education requires that we obtain approval from your state of residency before you may enroll in an online course. Out-of-State students not residing in California, and for which the College does not have a current State Authorization Agreement, will be excluded. Active military personnel are exempt.

Currently we do not have any State Authorization agreements, so are unable permit registration by students residing outside of California."

OMG, this is the stupidest thing I've ever heard.  I'm willing to bet that the US Dept of Education does NOT require this, that there is no such thing as a State Authorization agreement, and that there never was or will be.

So what this means is, you can only take these courses if you live in CA, whether you're a CA "resident" or not.  Not sure why they don't spell this out.