Mar 14, 2017 12:12 PM EDT By Audri Taylors, UniversityHerald Reporter

The constant increase in the costs of higher education has led many schools to initiate free-tuition programs in their respective schools, most especially to their low-income students. The ultimate goal is to provide greater opportunities to more students to enter college and obtain a degree.

It was only last month when news about some states offering free college to their students has been widespread. One is San Francisco which declared that it would be the first state to offer free college education to their students, as reported by CNBC. Currently, numerous schools adapt to programs that will cover students' tuition and fees and most of these programs are implemented at community colleges.

Right now, there is already an increasing number of four-year institutions across the country that offer free college tuition to help the students who are in need financially, according to US News. Robert McMaster, vice provost and dean of undergraduate education at the University of Minnesota, said that these programs are gaining more popularity but it depends nationally on the contribution of the states.

Some of the four year public universities which offer tuition-free programs include Arizona State University, Purdue University, West Texas A&M University, the University of Carolina-Chapel Hill, and all the campuses for University of Minnesota and University of Nebraska.

Most of these programs require students to be Pell Grant eligible, which means that they should have demonstrated that they have financial need.

Thomas Harnisch, director of state relations and policy analyst at the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, said that Pell Grants and state grants will be able to cover a large amount of tuition which therefore allows colleges and universities to offer such guarantees of free tuition because the remaining amount should not be that expensive.

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