FOX23 Investigates: Thousands of Tulsa County students going to college for free

TULSA, Okla. — Federal student loan debt surpassed $1.4 trillion in 2019 -- and it’s even higher if you add in private student loans.

FOX23 Anchor Shae Rozzi explored options to cut costs for college education and looked into the Tulsa Achieves program.

This Tulsa Community College program allows graduating high school seniors who live in Tulsa County and meet certain requirements to attend for free -- covering any gap between federal and state aid and their overall costs.

Tulsa Community College is the state’s third-largest college based on undergraduate enrollment behind the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University. There were 2,049 Tulsa Achieves students enrolled in the fall 2019 semester at TCC.

The program started in 2007 with 1,349 students and has now helped 21,760 students attend Tulsa Community College for free.

Robin Nguyen shared her experience of graduating with an associate’s degree in Pre-pharmacy at TCC as a Tulsa Achieves student.

She will head to the University of Oklahoma’s School of Pharmacy debt-free this fall to pursue her Doctor of Pharmacy degree.

TCC is hosting a “Blue Print For Everything Tulsa Achieves” event Saturday, Feb. 22 at their Northeast Campus from 9 a.m.-12 p.m.

Interested high school seniors and their families can learn about the program, requirements and how to apply for financial aid.

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