This column was originally published by the Times Argus on November 8, 2025.
Editor’s note: Vermont By Degrees is a series of columns written by representatives of colleges and universities from around the state about the challenges facing higher education at this time.
Freedom & Unity — It’s both Vermont’s motto and its promise, honoring the significance of the individual while simultaneously recognizing the shared responsibility of the whole. At Vermont State University (VTSU), we live this motto every day. Now, it is also the name of a new program making tuition-free college possible for thousands of income-eligible Vermonters. This will have a profound and lasting impact on our students and economy.
This fall, VTSU welcomed 5,185 students to our campuses, learning locations, and online programs, and countless others through our workforce offerings. And, we’ll see even more come to VTSU in the spring semester and through our mid-semester offerings. Over three-quarters of those students are Vermonters and another 800-plus come from other New England states.
Each student at VTSU brings a story — a personal history shaped by experience, perspective and knowledge. These individual narratives enrich the culture of our campuses and deepen our community connections. Students contribute their unique ways of thinking, doing, problem solving, and seeing the world. When shared, these perspectives strengthen the critical thinking and collaboration we foster across peer groups and academic disciplines.
Take Gabe Hill, a senior from Greensboro Bend studying mechanical engineering technologies with a concentration in manufacturing. Gabe is embedded in The Manufacturing Collaborative at the Randolph campus, where he’s getting hands-on experience in subtractive manufacturing, and working with teammates to innovate and learn on the job. His experience at VTSU, he says, has fast-forwarded his career by at least two years.
Yet it’s not just about what he’s learned and can bring to the job because he relies every day on his two teammates, Isabella DeCandio, of Rutland, and Fraser Pierpont, of Salisbury, for the knowledge, critical thinking and specialized training they each have — Isabella in quality control and Fraser in additive metal manufacturing — that complements Gabe’s.
Working together and leaning on each other’s abilities and expertise, they’re problem solvers and innovators. Individually, each is brilliant in his or her discipline, yet they are even stronger when they can build on each other’s work and coalesce as a team. This sort of teamwork and collaboration is exactly what we need much more of here in Vermont, and what we strive to develop in every student who comes through our doors.
Speaking of those students, the Freedom and Unity program is a promise that economic status does not define anyone’s future, and their ability to pay does not define their access to higher education. This is thanks to a new partnership between VTSU and Vermont Student Assistance Corp., supported by legislators and Governor Scott.
This year, students from almost half of Vermont households — those with a family income of $65,000 or less who don’t already have a bachelor’s degree — are able to attend VTSU tuition-free.
Let’s pause on that: A free two- or four-year college degree at Vermont State University is now within reach for thousands of Vermonters
This promise isn’t just for full-time students. We’re seeing more and more Vermonters return to school, opting for part-time, flexible classes offered online, on their own time, and at a pace that works for their busy lives. In fact, the average age of online learners at VTSU this fall is 33. The average age of part-time students is 30.
Students are coming to us before and after work, looking for ways to upskill for a promotion or new opportunity. They’re juggling families, the high cost of housing, demanding schedules and limited access to child care; and promises like Freedom and Unity are opening the doors of opportunity to them.
Let me be clear: In-person learning is, and will remain, a core offering at VTSU. However, students are increasingly seeking online courses and flexible offerings that fit their lives. This year, we’ve seen growth in online enrollment of more than 11% through last year, a clear signal that demand is shifting. To meet our students where they are, we must continue expanding flexible, high-quality learning options without compromising the value of face-to-face education.
Building up individuals while acknowledging a responsibility for the whole is also represented in our first-generation students. First-generation students — those who are the first in their families to obtain a bachelor’s degree — are coming to VTSU. They consistently make up over half of our student body, holding true to VTSU’s mission to provide access and opportunity to all Vermonters.
This month, like our fellow institutions, we also recognized National First-Generation College Celebration Day. We honored our students, faculty, and alumni who were the first in their family to attend college, and celebrated the achievements that followed. This annual event helps foster a culture of support and belonging for those taking this bold and important step.
First-generation students often face unique challenges in navigating college, and we are committed to helping them succeed. Through our programs like TRIO Student Support Services, McNair Scholars, and Student Success initiatives, we provide the guidance, resources, and encouragement they need to thrive. We believe this is a shared responsibility. When we support each other in unity, we strengthen our institution, our communities, and our state.
Which brings me back to where we started with our state motto: Freedom and Unity.
Together we can change lives, one individual at a time. Together we can spark innovation in our next generations of doers and leaders. Together we can solve problems, leaning on the skills and expertise of our colleagues and classmates. And together we can build a future that’s brighter than the past, where economic status doesn’t define future opportunity, and the promise of a better future is within reach — perhaps for the first time — for over half of Vermont families.
David Bergh is president of Vermont State University.
Vermont By Degrees is a series of weekly columns written by representatives of colleges and universities from around the state about the challenges facing higher education at this time.