RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 What Knox Achieved
JF Journal of Human Resources
FD University of Wisconsin Press
SP 2071
OP 2104
DO 10.3368/jhr.1220-11359R2
VO 60
IS 6
A1 Carruthers, Celeste K.
A1 Fox, William F.
A1 Jepsen, Christopher
YR 2025
UL http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/60/6/2071.abstract
AB We examine the effect of a last-dollar “free community college” program on college credit accumulation, college completion, and medium-term labor market outcomes. Knox Achieves pledged tuition-free community college to any Knox County, Tennessee high school graduate and served as the model for the statewide Tennessee Promise program, as well as local and state initiatives across the United States. We find that Knox Achieves eligibility led to a 24 percent higher likelihood of attaining an associate’s degree within nine years of high school, alongside positive but insignificant changes in the likelihood of attaining a bachelor’s degree and negative but insignificant changes in in-state earnings.