Report: Many missing out on state’s free-college deal

Gov. Cuomo’s Excelsior Scholarship Program got a bad grade Monday from an urban think tank that said four-year and community college students at the City University of New York aren’t cashing in on the state’s free tuition.

While the number of students in the highly touted program is growing, the promise of free tuition for the state’s neediest students is falling short, according to the Center for an Urban Future, a city think tank that analyzed program data it received through a Freedom of Information Act request.

The center found that only 335 scholarships, amounting to less than $1.3 million, were awarded to students across CUNY’s seven community college campuses in 2018 — just 1% of the total funding awarded that year.

Just nine students at Hostos Community College and 10 students at Bronx Community College received awards in 2018, the lowest numbers of any colleges in the state.

“With massive economic disruptions happening in real time, it’s never been more important to offer New Yorkers access to an affordable college education,” Eli Dvorkin, editorial and policy director at the center, said in a statement.

“But while the state’s Excelsior Scholarship program is well intentioned, the data shows that it’s reaching far too few of the financially vulnerable students at community colleges statewide who most need the support to succeed in college.”

A scholarship program representative was not available for comment.

Cuomo unveiled the program with much fanfare in 2017, when he signed into law a first-in-the-nation policy to cover tuition at all public colleges and universities in the state.

In allowing students from families making up to $125,000 a year to attend SUNY and CUNY two- and four-year schools tuition-free, the Excelsior Scholarship promised to transform the lives of thousands of students and countless more potential students.

Cuomo, at the time, said the program would combat the rising costs of college and the soaring debt faced by students, which he said was “like starting a race with an anchor tied to your leg.”

His office on Monday refuted the report’s findings, saying the authors were “confused” about the data.

“The authors of this report are either confused or purposefully misconstruing the facts to serve some unclear purpose, as they have completely failed to understand that the Excelsior Scholarship was created specifically to provide funding to students who would otherwise not be served by the state’s existing programs for low-income New Yorkers,” Cuomo spokesman Jason Conwall said.