It is a historic moment for higher education in San Francisco as Mayor Ed Lee announced yesterday (6th February) that the city will be the first in the whole United States to make the city college free for all the students, regardless of their income.

People who sell their homes for over $5 Million will have to pay more. But think of it this way that people send their children to public schools and do not pay tuition. City hall is arguing that community college students should not have either.

After months of pressure on the City Hall to make higher education free in San Francisco paid off Mayor Lee said "To California residents who are living in San Francisco, your community college is now free."

San Francisco will nearly pay $5.4 million a year to the City College to pay for the resident students in San Francisco. In order to qualify as a resident in San Francisco, a student must live in the city for at least a year and a day. A student can either be part-time or full-time students.

The money will come from the increase in the real estate transfer tax for commercial and residential properties valued at more than $5 million.

More than tens of Thousands of local students are expected to benefit from the funds

San Francisco Supervisor Jane Kim said that "Making City College free is going to provide greater opportunities for more San Franciscans to enter into the middle class and more San Franciscans to stay in the middle class if they currently are,"

The budget for City College estimated student expense for books and supplies represent about $1,700 a year for a full-time student, that is excluding transportation.

Some of the money announced yesterday will go to help offset those costs. All the full time students will receive an extra $500.

The new funding will go into effect next fall.

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