Students, faculty and public officials rallied to protect City College of San Francisco’s free tuition program from further budget cuts at City Hall on Wednesday.
Over 50 people participated in the protest against Mayor Daniel Lurie’s proposed budget while the Board of Supervisors input their changes before it’s finalized on Aug. 1. While the protest was against other cuts, many attendees were there to speak against the proposed 30% decrease in funding for the college’s free tuition program that would eliminate small cash grants for low-income students.
“Free City was such a seminal policy because it really brought to the forefront that we want our residents to access classes and take up a new skill, or if they’ve been out of school sometime, how do we remove as many barriers as possible to help them achieve that,” Aliya Chisti, president of the college’s board of trustees, told the Ingleside Light. “I don’t think there are a lot of cities that do that, so I think it’s really important that we hang onto those values.”
The college launched the Free City program in 2017 as a two-year trial to increase enrollment following one of its accreditation scares and was funded through Proposition W, a voter-approved 2016 ballot measure that raised the transfer tax on properties sold for more than $5 million. In 2019, the college and the city signed a 10-year funding agreement to keep the program going.
The program, though having raised enrollment for the college, has faced several roadblocks over the years, including tackling an over $4 million deficit from its first year in 2018 and battling against additional budget cuts, such as it being cut in half in 2024, with updated terms by former Mayor London Breed’s office to limit free tuition to students seeking degrees or certificates.
Advocates in 2025 also urged Lurie to increase funds, with some asking for a renegotiation of the deal made in 2019.
Last month, the college community advocated against the Mayor’s cut, which would drop funding from $9.8 million to $6.5 million, during the Board of Supervisors’ Budget and Appropriations Committee meeting.
“San Francisco City College is public infrastructure,” Homies Organizing the Mission to Empower Youth ERAP Care Manager Jose Luis Pavon said. “It’s just as important as the Bay Bridge. It’s just as important as BART. It’s just as important as Muni. It’s just as important as making sure our streets are paved. We need to defend it.”
Krystal Morales and her daughter, Laylani Grayson-Morales, shared how the zero-cost program has allowed them to seek higher education without the financial burden and has set them on a path to go after their dreams, all while being parents.
Morales, who is currently enrolled in the college’s community mental health worker certificate program and recently completed its Medi-Cal peer support specialist training program, said that Free City has helped her grow professionally and personally to pursue her passion and career.
By cutting access to programs like this one, she feels that it limits opportunities for students and communities that depend on compassionate, skilled providers.
“As an adult learner, cause there are many of us coming back, Free City has provided more than just financial support,” Morales said. “It has provided hope, opportunity, and the ability to invest in my future and the future of the people I hope to serve.”
Students for Justice member Jay S. also took the stand and shared how it is important to continue learning at the college and to say no to cuts to education before leading the crowd in a call-and-response chant.
“I want to highlight the fact that standing here, in solidarity with labor, we as a student organization have also been coalitioned with labor, and faculty and staff in the past few years fighting for the not cut down of our students’ Free City program because we want to defend free education in San Francisco,” Jay S. said. “We understand that that is a pathway for us, for labor to thrive, for labor to continue.”
