The Peralta Community College District (PCCD) has announced a district-wide “Fall is Free” program, offering free tuition for students at all four PCCD colleges. There will be no minimum course requirements for the Fall 2023 program.

Students that complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), or a California Dream Act application for undocumented students, will have their course registration fees waived. The program is only available to California residents – students “must have lived continuously in California for at least one year.”

According to a press release sent out by Mark Johnson, PCCD’s Executive Director of Marketing, Communications, and Public Relations, tuition incentives provided by the 2023 “Spring is Free” program “resulted in a nearly 11% increase in students across the four Peralta Colleges.”

The press release also states that funding for the program this fall will be provided by the California Community College COVID-19 Recovery Block Grant. Incentives for previous semesters were funded by the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund.

PCCD’s Interim Chancellor Jannett Jackson also commented on the reinstatement of the “Fall is Free” campaign in the press release.

“We’re pleased that we’re once again able to eliminate course fees for the fall semester and open the educational door to even more people,” Jackson said.