Students protest New Mexico’s tuition-free college plan because it’s funded by fracking

Students in New Mexico want tuition-free college, but not if it’s funded by taxes on fracking companies.

Democratic New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced in September that the state legislature was considering a proposal to provide tuition-free college to all students in 2-year and 4-year public colleges, no matter the student’s income. The program wouldn’t raise taxes on New Mexico’s families but would instead be funded by a tax on natural gas companies, which have been thriving in a statewide fracking boom.