Photo Courtesy of Kevin P. Coughlin/Office of the Governor
Sen. Bernie Sanders helped Gov. Cuomo unveil the Excelsior Scholarship Program on Tuesday at LaGuardia Community College in Long Island City.
By Forum Staff
College would be tuition-free for New York’s middle-class families at all SUNY and CUNY two- and four-year schools, thanks to a unique program proposed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday.
Joined by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Cuomo unveiled the first signature proposal of his 2017 agenda – the Excelsior Scholarship – to a packed house at LaGuardia Community College in Long Island City. The Empire State’s tuition-free college degree program, Cuomo noted, “is the first of its kind in the nation and will help alleviate the crushing burden of student debt while enabling thousands of bright young students to realize their dream of higher education.”
Under the proposal, more than 940,000 middle-class families and individuals making up to $125,000 per year would qualify to attend college tuition-free at all public universities in the state, according to the administration. The Excelsior Scholarship program will ensure that students statewide, regardless of their socio-economic status, have the opportunity to receive a quality education and gain the skills they need to succeed in our global economy, Cuomo said.
“A college education is not a luxury – it is an absolute necessity for any chance at economic mobility, and with these first-in-the-nation Excelsior Scholarships, we’re providing the opportunity for New Yorkers to succeed, no matter what ZIP code they come from and without the anchor of student debt weighing them down,” Cuomo added. “New York is making a major investment in our greatest asset – our people – and supporting the dreams and ambitions of those who want a better life and are willing to work hard for it. I am honored to have the support of Senator Sanders, who led the way on making college affordability a right, and I know that together we can make this a reality with New York leading the way once again.”
The Excelsior Scholarship, according to the administration, requires participating students to be enrolled at a SUNY or CUNY two- or four-year college full-time. The initiative will cover middle-class families and individuals making up to $125,000 through a supplemental aid program. Currently 80 percent of NY households statewide make $125,000 or less with an estimated 940,000 households having college-aged children that would be eligible for the program. Based on enrollment projections, the plan will cost approximately $163 million per year once fully phased in.
The new initiative will be phased in over three years, Cuomo said, beginning for New Yorkers making up to $100,000 annually in the fall of 2017, increasing to $110,000 in 2018, and reaching $125,000 in 2019.
The administration also noted that the initiative will work by leveraging the State’s aid programs. Currently, the Tuition Assistance Program provides nearly $1 billion in grants to college students statewide – and New York is one of only two states in the nation that offers this type of entitlement. Under the program, eligible students would still receive TAP and any applicable federal grants. Additional state funds would cover the remaining tuition costs for incoming or existing eligible students.
“What Governor Cuomo is proposing is a revolutionary idea for higher education,” Sanders said. “It’s an idea that’s going to reverberate not only throughout the State of New York, but throughout this country.”
