Earlier this month, Governor Cuomo held a news conference with the U.S. Senator from Vermont Bernie Sanders to announce a new initiative: to make public college tuition free for families whose incomes were up to $125,000.<\/p>\n
At that time, the governor remarked: “A college education is not a luxury \u2013 it is an absolute necessity for any chance at economic mobility.\u201d\u00a0 He went on to say that \u201c(College) is incredibly expensive.\u201d\u00a0 Senator Sanders was there, since it was his Presidential campaign that focused national attention on the cost of a college degree and the mounting debt that many students incurred to pay for a college education.<\/p>\n
For many New Yorkers, the governor\u2019s proposal was a welcome change.\u00a0 After all, it was Governor Cuomo\u2019s Administration that had changed New York law to automatically allow annual increases in public college tuition.\u00a0 During his time as governor, the cost of attending the State University of New York has shot up by 30 percent over five years.<\/p>\n
Making public college more affordable is a great idea, not only for educating the next generation of workers, but the next generation of citizens as well.<\/p>\n
Last week, the details of the governor\u2019s plan took shape.\u00a0 The governor proposed a state budget that included funding for his \u201cExcelsior scholarship\u201d \u2013 the plan to eliminate tuition costs.\u00a0 His plan tracks the one unveiled with Senator Sanders.\u00a0 There appears to be one hitch: the Excelsior scholarship is a \u201cdeferred payment\u201d program.\u00a0 That means that the student receives the benefit of the scholarship after<\/em> successfully completing 15 credits and earning at least a passing C grade.<\/p>\n The plan proposes that the public college defer billing the student for the tuition, and the college does not receive the scholarship money until after the semester.\u00a0 If the student fails, the public college receives no<\/em> income from the scholarship and must charge the student for the cost.<\/p>\n As a result, it is possible that the college\u2019s and the student\u2019s financial exposure may make the program less attractive.\u00a0 Failing to perform puts the student squarely on the financial hook.\u00a0 Of course, it is not unreasonable for the public to ask that students perform academically, but in life, stuff happens \u2013 parents divorce, deaths and illnesses occur; how will life\u2019s unexpected problems and their impacts on students be addressed?<\/p>\n In addition to the Administration\u2019s scholarship program, the governor\u2019s overall higher education budget was not nearly as generous, and in some ways worse, for students than the status quo.<\/p>\n The governor proposed that operational funding for SUNY be kept at this year\u2019s level.\u00a0 Since the inflation rate is a bit over 2 percent, the governor is effectively proposing a cut of 2 percent in state funding for SUNY.<\/p>\n The governor also proposed cuts to programs that provide support to college students that come from educationally disadvantaged backgrounds.<\/p>\n And he proposed a tuition increase<\/em> to those families making over $125,000.\u00a0 You heard that correctly, the governor\u2019s no tuition plan hikes SUNY tuition \u2013 for those whose incomes are greater than $125,000 annually.<\/p>\n Where will the additional revenues generated by the tuition hike go?\u00a0 There is language in the governor\u2019s budget that directs SUNY to spend new tuition revenue on hiring new faculty and student services.\u00a0 But there are additional costs, such as the increases in cost due to inflation for example, that are not mandated.\u00a0 As those costs increase and state supports stagnates, the increases in tuition will be used to fill those budget holes.<\/p>\n In his speech with Senator Sanders, the governor correctly identified a big problem, the skyrocketing cost of attending public college.\u00a0 But a tuition-free plan is only one part of the necessary responses: the state needs to provide additional resources and it needs to strengthen programs to help the poor and educationally disadvantaged \u2013 students who already go to college tuition-free but often cannot afford the life expenses needed to attend college and complete their degree.<\/p>\n Making a big policy splash helps, but the policy details matter more.\u00a0 The governor\u2019s proposal is only the first step in New York\u2019s several month budgetary dance.\u00a0 Here\u2019s hoping that the final budget not only lowers tuition, but provides the resources necessary for SUNY to fulfill its educational mission to all<\/em> students.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Earlier this month, Governor Cuomo held a news conference with the U.S. Senator from Vermont Bernie Sanders to announce a new initiative: to make public college tuition free for families whose incomes were up to $125,000. 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