Not-so-free N.Y. tuition

ALBANY — New York’s free tuition program has been anything but that for a majority of college students, a new report found.

Of the 63,599 who applied to the Excelsior Scholarships program, 43,513, or 68.4%, were rejected, largely because they lacked the required 30 credits per academic year to qualify, the Center for an Urban Future report says.

Overall, just 3.2% of undergraduate students statewide received an award from the Excelsior program that was enacted with great fanfare by Gov. Cuomo and the state Legislature in 2017.

And even though City University of New York students make up 38% of all undergraduate enrollment in the state, just 20.7% of those who received an Excelsior scholarship attend a CUNY institution, the report found.

The program was available last year to students from homes with household incomes of up to $100,000. That threshold will rise to $125,000 in 2019. The scholarship is meant to meet the extra tuition costs not covered by other federal and state grants.

The Excelsior Scholarship program also requires undergraduates to graduate within four years, does not cover costs of books, housing and other fees, and turns into a loan unless a receipient stays in New York for five years after graduation.

“Governor Cuomo and legislative leaders should make critical reforms to the Excelsior Scholarship Program to ensure that more students who need financial assistance to attend college and earn a credential are able to qualify for this well-intended but flawed program,” the report said.

Cuomo promoted the program with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders last year and has touted it in campaign ads this year.

Cuomo aides argue the actual number of students gong to college full-time tuition free is 53%. They say the report does not take into account student who are covered by the state Tuition Assistance Program and federal Pell grants.

They also say the report looks at anyone who has taken a course and students who are not state residents, who are not covered in the free tuition law.

All told, they say, there were roughly 95,000 applicants who applied for Excelsior and 46,000 who were eligible, But only 22,000 to 23,000 needed it because the others were already going to college tuition free, they say.

“Eighty-two thousand CUNY students, or 56% of total full-time enrollment, already go to school tuition-free because of existing assistance programs,” Cuomo spokesman Don Kaplan said.