It’s hard to believe that they exist, but they do – tuition free colleges.

Thanks to this article on mentalfloss I learned of  of 7 more than I knew of – the only one I was previously familiar with was Cooper Union.

1. College of the Ozarks is a private, Christian liberal-arts college located in Point Lookout, Missouri – 40 miles south of Springfield. The college has a student to faculty ratio of approximately 16:1, over 30 academic majors, and degrees in Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science.

The College charges no tuition for full-time students, due to its unique student work program and donations. The program requires students to work 15 hours a week at a on-campus work station and two 40 hour work weeks during breaks. A summer work program is also available to cover room and board costs.

2. Deep Springs College is a two year, all-male, liberal arts college located on a cattle-ranch and alfalfa farm in California’s High Desert. In addition to studies, students work a minimum of 20 hours a week either on the ranch attached to the college or in positions related to the college and community. Students pay only for incidental expenses such as textbooks. Tuition, room, and board are covered by scholarships.

3. University of California Irvine – Law School first offered free tuition for the first entering class. Now it is offering half tuition for the next entering class. UCI is located in Orange County, California.

4. Berea College in Kentucky, offers full-tuition scholarship valued at more than $90,000. Students must work a minimum of 10 hours at the college. Room, board and books are not covered – but the college offers work-study programs to offset the costs.

5. Olin College is an engineering college with 300 students located in Needham, Massachusetts.  Each student receives a 4 year scholarship funded by a $400 million dollar grant.

6. Cooper Union is located in Manhattan, New York City and has degree programs in art and engineering. Every student receives free tuition for 4 years.

7. Curtis Institute of Music located in Philadelphia is admits 160 students and provides full scholarships. In addition all piano, harpsichord, composition, and conducting majors are lent Steinway grand pianos. Students host over 100 public concerts each year, and receive one-on-one instruction from the musically accomplished faculty.

8. Alice Lloyd College is a private, liberal arts college in Kentucky. Students are required to work at least 10 hours per week in exchange for free tuition.