As student government president for the California Community Colleges, Iiyshaa Youngblood represents millions of people who scrape to pay for, and complete, even a two-year degree program. So you might expect the Inland Empire psychology major to be excited about a proposal to offer Californians two years of community college tuition-free. You’d be wrong. “That bill helps people who can already afford college,” Youngblood, a student at Moreno Valley College, says. She’s referring to legislation introduced in December that would tack a second year onto California’s existing College Promise Program. The scholarship covers a year’s worth of fees—usually $46 per credit hour—for first-time, full-time students in community college districts that meet certain requirements, such as participating in the federal student loan program and offering counseling services. The problem, according to Youngblood, is who isn’t eligible: part-time students, who make up more than two thirds of the community college population. While research shows students taking 12 units or more per semester are more likely to earn a degree or certificate, Youngblood says many low-income students are simply too busy working to handle a full-time course load. And with rent, food, bus fare or car costs, and hundreds of dollars out of pocket every semester for textbooks, she said, students typically need those paychecks. “I think a lot of times legislators are disconnected from what students actually endure.” she said. “It sounds good, but for a lot of people, especially students of color, it’s unrealistic.” Youngblood’s skepticism illustrates the complexity of debates about tuition-free college programs, which are springing up around the country at a time of rising discontent with student debt and widespread evidence of food insecurity and homelessness on campus. Some state plans have garnered bipartisan support. But often, say college affordability advocates, “free” doesn’t really mean free. California’s Promise program, for example, doesn’t address non-tuition costs, which make up the bulk of community college students’ total price of attendance. When those are taken into account, in most regions of the state, low-income students pay a higher net price for community college than they would to attend a California State University campus or University of California campus, according to a recent report from The Institute for College Access and Success. That’s because there’s more grant aid available at the state’s four-year universities, the report says.