S. 1832 · Where this bill is now
In committee
Introduced in the Senate, May 21, 2025
What this bill does
In plain words · AI-written from the official summaryExpands college access and cuts tuition costs
This bill aims to make college more affordable by funding states and colleges to eliminate tuition and required fees for students. Community college students would have free tuition, and working- and middle-class students at four-year public colleges could attend tuition-free too. The bill also increases Pell Grants (federal aid for low-income students), lets Pell money cover living expenses, and expands who can receive it—including certain immigrant students.
How it affects you
If you're a student or planning to attend community college or a four-year public university, you could see tuition and fees eliminated depending on your income level. Low-income students would get more Pell Grant money and more flexibility in how they use it. Students at private historically Black colleges and minority-serving institutions could also see tuition eliminated if they're eligible. The changes would directly affect students and families weighing college costs, though the specific dollar amounts and full eligibility details would depend on how states implement the program.
Read the official summary (Introduced in Senate, May 21, 2025)
College for All Act of 2025
This bill establishes measures to expand access to higher education, including by eliminating tuition and required fees for eligible students, revising the Federal Pell Grant program, and reauthorizing certain programs to assist students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Specifically, the bill provides funding to enable states and tribal colleges and universities, through a federal-state partnership, to eliminate tuition and required fees for (1) all students at community colleges and two-year tribal colleges and universities, and (2) working- and middle-class students at four-year public institutions of higher education and tribal colleges and universities.
The bill provides funding to enable private, nonprofit historically Black colleges and universities and minority-serving institutions to eliminate tuition and required fees for eligible students.
The bill permanently reauthorizes and otherwise revises the Federal Pell Grant program by
• providing funding to increase the maximum award for each eligible student,
• increasing the duration limit for the use of Pell Grants,
• allowing students to use their awards to cover living and nontuition expenses, and
• expanding eligibility to Dreamer students (i.e., students who have been granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status and who entered the United States before the age of 16) and students with other immigration statuses.
Further, the bill requires the Department of Education to award grants to eligible states and tribal colleges and universities for improving student outcomes.
The bill reauthorizes through FY2035 the Federal TRIO Programs and reauthorizes through FY2029 the Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs.
Written by AI (Claude) using only the official summary by the Congressional Research Service, the Library of Congress’s nonpartisan research staff. It can miss nuance, so check the official summary and the bill text for details.
1st SessionS. 1832
A BILL
College for All Act of 2025
Sponsor: Sen. Bernard Sanders (I-VT) · Introduced May 21, 2025 · Education · 1 version of the text
Sources: Congress.gov actions and votes · bill text from GovInfo · latest official action May 21, 2025: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.”
Sections
Title I — Federal-State partnership to fully eliminate tuition and required fees · 1
Title II — Grant program to eliminate tuition and fees for eligible students at private nonprofit historically Black colleges and universities and minority-serving institutions · 2
- Sec. 201Grant program to eliminate tuition and fees for eligible students at private nonprofit historically Black colleges and universities and minority-serving institutionsNo change
- Sec. 202Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, United States Virgin Islands, Guam, and Freely Associated States college accessNo change