State should make SUNY campuses more affordable

Dear Editor,

As far-right Republicans in Florida wage war on higher education, Albany lawmakers have an opportunity to transform state government’s relationship with SUNY and CUNY.

For years, both public university systems have been starved for funding while lawmakers and administrators shifted the burden of costs onto students through tuition increases. Our ongoing public debate about student loan debt forgiveness exists partly because of those bad policy choices.

Gov. Kathy Hochul and legislative leaders can make a clean break from their predecessors in this state budget. New York is flush with tax revenue, and that means lawmakers can finally allocate much needed resources to university systems. For example, they can start by including $160 million to close budget deficits at SUNY campuses across the state and then add $110 million in recurring aid for campus operations. Students and campus communities will benefit greatly if this funding is allocated in the budget.

That’s not all. Education is a right for all New Yorkers and should not be conditional on incurring devastating student loan debt. Tax increases on the super-wealthy, like the corporate tax and capital gains, can finance expansions of student aid and scholarship programs that preserve the financial future of our students. One day, SUNY and CUNY can even be free.

We can have top-notch public universities while ensuring they remain affordable. Past lawmakers may have let our public universities wither away, but Gov. Hochul and legislative leaders can start undoing that damage now.