NEWS RELEASE

For release February 28, 2005  

NYPIRG REPORT SHOWS A DECADE OF DIMINISHED PUBLIC SUPPORT AND TUITION HIKES IS SHIFTING HIGHER EDUCATION COSTS FROM THE STATE TO STUDENTS

STUDENTS AND FAMILIES ARE “OVERBURDENED” AS THEY INCREASINGLY BEAR THE COST TO FUND PUBLIC HIGHER EDUCATION

STUDENTS CALL ON LEGISLATIVE LEADERS TO RESTORE STATE FUNDING, STOP TUITION INCREASES, AND SPARE HIGHER ED FROM BUDGET CHOPPING BLOCK

The New York Public Interest Research Group today released a report showing that the combination of diminished public support and periodic tuition hikes over the past decade have resulted in a shift in funding public higher education from the state to students.

“Students and families are doubly paying the price of the skyrocketing cost of public higher education in New York,” said Miriam Kramer, NYPIRG’s higher education coordinator. “The increasing cost is the result of years of backsliding state support for its colleges and universities.”

The report finds that:

• State support for higher education is declining in New York.
• New York families bear the burden of the loss in state support through increases in tuition.
• The combination of declining state support and increasing tuition has led to students and families taking on an increasingly larger share of the funding costs of public higher education in New York.
• A parallel trend of decreasing state support and increasing tuition and fees can be seen at the public community colleges.

(The full report can be downloaded from www.nypirg.org/higher_ed/overburdened.pdf)

The report notes that Governor Pataki’s proposed budget for 2005-06 would exacerbate these trends by once again increasing tuition and limiting government support for the college’s operating expenses.

“Adopting the governor’s budget would be a statewide further shifting of the burden so that student-paid tuition revenue would cover more than half the total operating budget for the state’s so-called public colleges,” added Kramer. “It is shameful how the state has shirked its responsibility to the very institutions it created. We urge our legislative leaders to reverse this backwards pattern and increase state support for SUNY and CUNY and stop tuition hikes.”

Students from 25 campuses from across the state will travel to Albany on March 7 for a statewide student lobby day to reiterate this message in meetings with their elected representatives. They will urge the legislature to:

• Keep public college affordable for the students most in need by funding financial aid programs and stopping tuition hikes.
• Shift the cost of higher education back to the state’s general fund and ease the burden on New York families and their students by increasing state support for public colleges and universities.

Summary of Report Findings and Recommendations | Complete “Overburdened” Report

For more information contact Miriam Kramer

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