College for free? For many American students, it sounds too good to be true (though there are plenty of places abroad where free tuition is the norm). While it might not be the standard practice in the United States, there is a growing list of schools who provide free tuition to eligible students.

What do you need to know in order to take advantage of this potentially amazing opportunity? Let’s take a closer look.

Finding Tuition-Free Colleges

Doing a simple search for “tuition-free colleges” will provide you with some starting places, but you need to be careful about the sources you trust. Make sure that the schools on the list are accredited, legitimate educational institutions.

You’ll see some nationally well-known names on many lists, including Harvard University, Washington University in St. Louis, and Stanford University.

Other schools may be more regionally recognizable including Berea College (in Kentucky), Tennessee Community Colleges, and City College of San Francisco.

Look at Eligibility Requirements Carefully

As U.S. News reports, it’s important to read the fine print when it comes to a tuition-free college plan.

Most schools have specific eligibility requirements in order to get the benefit of enrollment with no cost. You’ll find the most common eligibility requirements are location-based, income-based, or both. Other schools offer their tuition benefits in exchange for work contracts from their incoming students.

Location Requirements

For many schools, tuition-free enrollment is only available to students who meet residence requirements. This may mean that you live within the city limits (as is the case for the City College of San Francisco), in state (Tennessee Community Colleges), or within a collection of bordering states (Alice Lloyd College).

Take a close look at how residency is defined if you’re counting on this requirement to get you tuition coverage. Most schools require primary residence for a certain number of months to qualify.

Income Requirements

Many schools offer tuition coverage to those who demonstrate financial need. Before you assume this means you aren’t eligible, take a closer look! Financial “need” for these situations isn’t necessarily defined by the same metrics as public services or other financially-based assistance programs.

At Harvard, students from families earning less than $85,000 a year will have no tuition or room and board costs. New York State and City Colleges offer New York state residents coming from families who make less than $125,000 a year scholarships to cover significant tuition costs.

Work Requirements

At some schools, students aren’t so much getting “free” tuition as they are entering a work agreement in exchange for their tuition costs.

At Berea College, for instance, students receiving free tuition must work a minimum of 10 hours per week on campus (for which they also collect an hourly paycheck). The College of the Ozarks in Missouri offers full-time students a tuition waiver in exchange for 15 hours a week of work and two 40-hour weeks during the academic year.

Remember Non-Tuition Costs

It’s also important that those planning on attending a tuition-free school remember that tuition is not the only cost of attending college.

Room, board, books, and day-to-day living expenses are often not covered in the tuition waivers (with a few notable exceptions for income-based recipients).

The bottom line is that tuition-free offerings can be an excellent way to broaden your college search and save money, but you need to read the requirements and offers carefully to make sure you fully understand the commitment.