Cuomo’s free tuition plan faces challenges
ALBANY, N.Y. >> Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s plan for free tuition at SUNY appears to be in limbo, facing opposition from private colleges and overwhelmed by President Trump’s budget and healthcare juggernaut.
“We hope something gets done,” Mary Beth Labate of the Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities said Wednesday. “We’re hoping it is a more inclusive proposal that factors in the entire higher education ecosystem in New York.”
“The private colleges educate more students and enroll more four-year students than the public, so to leave us out of this discussion on affordability I think is really putting forward an incomplete package,” she said.
At SUNY, officials are waiting to see what the Legislature does as a vote nears on the $162 billion state budget for 2017-18. The topic was discussed at Wednesday’s SUNY Board meeting, system spokesperson Holly Liapis said, and the board is confident the system can absorb the expected influx of new students if tuition is dropped for most of those enrolled.
While SUNY four-year colleges are at or near capacity, community colleges that are all openenrollment have surplus capacity of 3 to 5 percent for new students on average, with some at 10 percent, SUNY says.
The proposal for free public higher education that Cuomo is proposing appears to have been sidelined by bigger issues, including Trump’s push to repeal and replace Obamacare. Also getting more attention has been the efforts by the teachers union and other powerful lobbying groups to extend a “millionaire’s tax” on high earners as well as enact a new excise tax on luxury housing costing $2 million or more in New York City.
Cuomo turned his attention to the Trump proposals this week, sending out Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul to stump for the tuition plan on SUNY campuses around the state. The budget is due
April 1, and Cuomo has spent much of his time the past few days denouncing Trump’s plans to repeal and replace Obamacare, warning of catastrophic consequence should the House GOP plan become law.
The excitement over Obamacare and Trump’s proposals to slash discretionary spending have sidelined the debate that is normally part of state budget process to a remarkable degree this year.
Cuomo’s plan calls for waiving the SUNY fouryear college tuition for full- time students. Tuition is now at $6,470 at SUNY four-year colleges, with the average community college tuition at $ 4,366. The program would be phased in over three years, with families with incomes of $100,000 or less getting free tuition starting this fall, followed by expansions to $110,000 in 2018 and $125,000 in 2019.
Cuomo puts the cost of the plan at $163 million when fully implemented, a figure some critics say is too low.
Other college costs would still apply, another sticking point with critics of the plan. They say rather than simply address tuition, any plan should include more financial help for residential costs, books and other expenses.
The proposal was not part of the budget resolutions released by Senate Republicans and the Senate Independent Democratic Caucus, though they did call for an increase in the Tuition Assistance Plan. Assembly Democrats included many facets of Cuomo’s plan in their budget resolution, making it even more generous to students.
CICU cites a study by Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce that said free tuition at public colleges “could cause private, not-for-profit colleges and universities to see a drop between 7 and 15 percent in enrollment.”
“(Cuomo’s) proposal, while well- intentioned, will have a devastating impact on the private, independent sector,” Siena College President F. Edward Coughlin said, in a statement released this week by CICU. “The estimated 11 percent enrollment drop could result in 45,000 jobs being lost across the state, and that’s a risk none of us can afford to take.”
“(Cuomo’s) proposal, while wellintentioned, will have a devastating impact on the private, independent sector.” — F. Edward Coughlin, Siena College President