The College of Marin is offering free tuition and fees to the first 500 Marin County high school seniors who apply for its new 90th Anniversary Scholarship.

The scholarship will provide free tuition and fees for residents who are spring 2016 graduates of any Marin County public or private high school or homeschool program.

The deadline to apply is June 1 and students must enroll in the college by Aug. 1. The scholarship is for the fall semester.

“In honor of their accomplishments and in celebration of the college’s 90th year, this program will get students started on their higher education goals,” said David Wain Coon, the college’s president. The College of Marin opened April 6, 1926.

Tuition at the college is $46 per unit. This comes to about $550 per semester for a typical 12-unit courseload, plus fees that bring the maximum per semester to $623.

The health fee is $19; the optional student representation fee is $1; the optional student activities fee is $8; the student transportation fee is $3 per unit, with a $35 maximum; and the technology fee is $10. The scholarship doesn’t pay for books or course material fees, though assistance may be available.

To qualify, students must apply to the college, complete either the FAFSA financial aid application or the Dream Act financial application, and complete the eight-question scholarship application. Students must then enroll in a minimum of 12 units for the fall 2016 semester.

The 90th Anniversary Scholarship isn’t the only financial assistance program at the college. About half the college’s 13,000 students get some sort of financial aid, said spokeswoman Nicole Cruz.

The college has at least two programs in place encouraging Marin high schoolers to enroll, Cruz said.

The college’s Compass Program, a dual-enrollment partnership at Terra Linda High School and San Marin High School, covers students’ educational expenses for the first year. There are 41 students enrolled in this program.

“Students who complete the Compass program and graduate high school are then eligible to come to COM free for the first year,” Cruz said.

Also, the college has the Summer Bridge program with 10,000 Degrees. This nonprofit’s goal is helping 10,000 low-income students — many of whom would be the first in their families to go to college — get on the path to college degrees. The program includes math and English classes to help students avoid having to take remedial courses.

About 75 to 100 students will likely enroll this summer, most from Marin high schools, Cruz said. While this program does not give students a break on tuition and fees, “Summer Bridge participants are students who have just graduated from high school and are planning to start at COM in the fall, so they are most certainly eligible for the 90th Anniversary Scholarship,” Cruz said.

Mary Jane Burke, the county’s superintendent of schools, said: “The partnership with College of Marin has never been stronger, more innovative or more student-focused, whether it is the inclusion of our special education students in their programs, the opportunity for high school students to receive college credits or now the opportunity they are providing to students to access the program at no cost.

“The value-add the college is providing is unprecedented throughout the state, given the varied innovative programs that are being made available for all students, those who would be the first to attend college in their families in addition to those who will be following others in their families to college.”