Free handouts could be grand! (8)
I believe the answer is:
thousand
'be grand' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'free handouts' is the wordplay.
'free' indicates an anagram.
'handouts' is an anagram of 'THOUSAND'.
'could' is the link.
(Other definitions for thousand that I've seen before include "Large number" , "Ten cubed" , "Ten hundred" , "-- Island dressing" , "Cardinal" .)