Free SUNY tuition may start this fall for those eligible
ALBANY -- Income-eligible students would receive free tuition to the state's public colleges under a plan proposed Tuesday by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
The free tuition plan, which will cost about $163 million a year, would be phased in over three years.
By the final year, New York students would be eligible if their families earn $125,000 or less annually.
It would start this fall for people or households who earn $100,000 annually, then go to $110,000 in 2018.
The program would cover both two and four-year colleges, including community colleges. Room and board would not be free.
Education advocates lauded the proposal, and Cuomo was joined at the announcement by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who proclaimed it a national model.
“If you come from any family making $125,000 or less, the state will provide free tuition," Cuomo said Tuesday at LaGuardia College.
"It is going to be the first program like it in the United States of America. It’s once again New York leading the way.”
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Tuition is currently $6,470 a year at SUNY's four-year colleges, and Cuomo said 80 percent of New York households statewide make $125,000 or less.
Sanders, who pushed for free tuition during his presidential bid last year, praised the plan as "revolutionary," saying students shouldn't be "punished" with tens of thousands of dollars in debt for seeking higher education.
"The day will come where we understand that public education in America is not simply kindergarten through high school, but that public education in 2017 means making public colleges and public universities tuition-free," Sanders said.
The effort is expected to supplement the variety of tuition-assistance programs that the state already offers to low-and middle-income New Yorkers to attend one of the state's 64-public campuses, which is the largest public system in the nation.
The initiative would need approval of the state Legislature as part of the budget for the fiscal year that starts April 1.
Cuomo has until Jan. 17 to introduce his budget plan.
Some lawmakers were supportive of the governor's proposal, while others were cautious about the impact on taxpayers.
Sen. Fred Akshar, R-Colesville, Broome County, said New York already spends $1 billion a year on tuition assistance.
Under Cuomo's plan, eligible students would still receive aid through Tuition Assistance Program, but additional state money would cover the remaining tuition costs.
"While I support helping middle-class families afford the rising cost of a college education," Akshar said in a statement, "I'm very concerned that this proposal will put an unfair burden on hardworking taxpayers that have paid for Albany's tax-and-spend culture for far too long."
SUNY tuition has been a source of debate in New York in recent years.
SUNY tuition, room and board increased over the past decade from an average of $13,275 to $20,549, a 55 percent increase, a state report in September found.
The SUNY Board of Trustees increased tuition $300 a year between 2011 and 2015, but lawmakers rejected another increase last year.
SUNY this year is seeking to let its 29 two- and four-year colleges raise tuition in each of the next four years by $100, $200 or $300.
SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher said Cuomo's initiative would hopefully mean an infusion of aid to avoid tuition increases on those not eligible for the free-tuition program.
"This puts that whole conversation in the perspective of: Let’s start with what the governor wants to do with CUNY, SUNY, public higher education in New York, and then see if we need anything else," she told the USA Today Network's Albany Bureau.
SUNY has sought to encourage students to graduate on time, and the proposal would help, Cuomo said.
For instance, in 2013, about 40 percent of students at a four-year public school and 9 percent at a two-year public college completed their degrees on time.
In 2015, the the average student loan debt in New York was $29,320.
"That is not fair. That is not right," Cuomo said.
"The rule of the game was everybody has a fair shot at success -- that is America. And when you take that away, you take away the spirit and the values that made this country this country."