SUNY tuition on three-year freeze
New York state’s looming budget deal includes a $56 million boost in state funds for public colleges and a three-year tuition freeze at SUNY and CUNY schools, several lawmakers and stakeholders confirmed Tuesday.
The tentative spending plan also includes increased investment in the state’s Tuition Assistance Program (TAP), which benefits both public and private college students.
“This year’s budget is arguably the best higher ed budget passed under our current
governor,” state Sen. Andrew Gounardes, Dbrooklyn, wrote in a tweet Tuesday afternoon. “On top of restoring nearly $75M in cuts to SUNY & CUNY, this budget is the largest increase to the Tuition Assistance Program in 20 yrs.”
In 2011, the Legislature passed a law allowing automatic tuition increases at public colleges and universities to outpace maximum TAP allowances. The policy has placed a burden on students and public colleges that must offer supplemental financial assistance to their neediest students.
The pending budget plan would raise the maximum grant per Tapeligible pupil by $500 to $5,665, a major step towards narrowing what’s known as the “TAP gap.”
Fred Kowal, president of United University Professions, said the union representing SUNY faculty and staff has been advocating for a tuition freeze and for increased state investment in public colleges’ operating costs for years, but it was unclear if policymakers are in agreement on a multiyear plan to eliminate the TAP gap or a onetime increase in tuition assistance.
“We remain hopeful that lightning will strike in the end and we will see the TAP gap eliminated in this budget,” he said. “More money to support financial aid for students — that’s a classic winwin.”
Tuesday afternoon, lawmakers confirmed that the budget bills include a three-year plan to fully eliminate the TAP gap.
State University of New York and City University of New York schools were authorized to raise tuition by $200 for 2020-21.
A report published by the New York Public Interest Research Group last year found that New York state has charged public college students nearly $4 billion through a series of scheduled tuition hikes at SUNY and CUNY schools between 2010 and 2019. Even with assistance provided by TAP and the state’s Excelsior Scholarship program, students have paid $2.5 billion in additional tuition since 2011.
The budget bills also include $2 million in funding for mental health services at CUNY and SUNY and $200 million for capital expansion initiatives at both public university systems.
The increased investment in higher education will be covered by about $5 billion in new revenues, including about $500 million from the legalization of online sports betting, according to reports.
Another windfall comes to local institutions from the federal American Rescue Plan Act, which includes $2.6 billion for colleges and universities in New York on top of billions authorized in previous stimulus packages.
Some SUNY institutions, including the University at Albany, have proposed deep program cuts to address growing operating budget gaps that have been exacerbated by the health crisis, which has cost schools million in lost room-andboard revenue and expenses associated with COVID testing and safety.
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Monday told reporters that he and legislative leaders have reached a “conceptual agreement” on all of the issues at stake, but details of the spending plan are still being negotiated. The delayed budget bills were due April 1.