Higher ed tuition bump in budget talks
Proposals would raise income limit
ALBANY — Debate over the cost of higher education for New Yorkers is ratcheting up as budget negotiations intensify at the Capitol this month.
The “one-house” budgets recently put forth by the Senate and Assembly propose significant expansions to New York’s Tuition Assistance Program, including increasing the minimum award amount from $500 to $1,000.
TAP began 50 years ago and provides funding to help cover tuition costs for New York residents at colleges within the state.
The proposals — which show the legislative bodies’ priorities as they negotiate with Gov. Kathy Hochul to finalize a budget — also include raising the maximum income level for qualifying students from $80,000 to $125,000. The income limit has not been increased in more than 20 years, Assemblywoman Patricia Fahy said.
The Senate proposal — championed by the chair of the Committee on Higher Education, Sen. Toby Ann Stavisky — would increase the maximum award from $5,665 to $6,165. During the first few decades of the program, the maximum award correlated with the cost of tuition at the State University of New York. TAP awards to the neediest college students covered the entire cost of tuition at SUNY and CUNY campuses.
Fahy, an Albany Democrat, said that more than a decade ago, the award and tuition were “decoupled,” with SUNY tuition rising more than the maximum award amount. For the 2023-24 school year, SUNY tuition is $7,070, which is $1,405 more than what those receiving a maximum TAP award are getting now.
That gap between maximum TAP awards and tuition would not be resolved by the Senate’s proposal, but would decrease to just over $900.
Fahy highlighted other changes to the program in the Assembly’s budget bills, including an increase in the maximum qualifying income limit for independent students — who do not have tax dependents — from $10,000 to $30,000. For married independent students without other tax dependents, the plan increases the maximum income from $40,000 to $60,000.
The TAP expansion proposal would also include an expansion from four to five years of eligibility for award funding.
“If life interrupts and you have a death in the family or mental health challenges and you miss a semester, we see students who end up just dropping out. We’re trying to get them back,” said Fahy, who chairs the Assembly Committee on Higher Education. “That doesn’t mean we want students to take their time, but we’re finding it’s taking longer because they’re working their way through.”
Blair Horner, executive director of New York Public Interest Research Group, emphasized that some of the changes proposed in the one-house budgets accommodate a changing student body, including expanding eligibility for part-time students.
“You have a student body now that is more likely to have jobs outside of college,” Horner said. “It’s just a recognition that you need to have a system like that to make it easier for people who are balancing family, jobs and college to be able to afford it.”
Stavisky, a Queens Democrat, said in a joint statement with Fahy that the proposed TAP expansions are “the most significant steps the state legislature has taken since 2002 to address the college affordability crisis.”
Assemblyman Robert Smullen, a Mohawk Valley Republican, celebrated the changes proposed for TAP, but advocated that having the maximum award cover the cost of SUNY tuition “should be the benchmark.” Smullen, the ranking member of the Assembly Committee on Higher Education, hopes the proposals will have bipartisan support in both houses as budget negotiations continue.
State Sen. Peter Oberacker, an Otsego County Republican, is also hopeful that expanded TAP funding could “open up more doors and more opportunity” for New Yorkers that want to pursue higher education.
“If you’re fishing, you’ve got to use the right lure,” Oberacker said. “And I believe we are trying to fish in a very competitive environment for students and this is definitely going to help.”
SUNY and City University of New York students rallied at the Capitol in late February for more funding for higher education, including highlighting concerns with the high costs facing many students. Student leaders called for more operation aid for campuses, which Fahy said is also of concern to legislators, along with TAP expansion.
“Food insecurity is a problem. Housing insecurity is a problem. Now, transportation is also a problem. Enough is enough,” Salimatou Doumbouya, CUNY University Student Senate chair and a CUNY City Tech student, said at the event.
Fahy said that while widespread support behind the proposals in the Assembly and Senate is promising, many issues are being negotiated as budget talks continue. Hochul’s budget proposes $232.7 billion in spending, while the Assembly’s proposal is $245.8 billion and the Senate proposal is $246.2 billion.
“It’s terrific,” Fahy said of the inclusion of TAP expansions in both the one-house budgets. “But we have huge work ahead of us because we’re billions apart.”