April 2005

Higher Education

From the NYS Assembly • Sheldon Silver, Speaker
Ron Canestrari • Chair, Higher Education Committee
What the experts are saying...

“We applaud the efforts to not increase tuition at all and that stance should remain as the legislative session continues....this year’s budget proves that if there’s a legislative will, there’s a way to both hold the line on tuition and increase funding for the state’s colleges and universities.”

– Miriam Kramer, Higher Education Coordinator, New York Public Interest Research Group

“Full funding for TAP and HEOP was our top priority. These state student aid programs enable students to meet expenses at the college or university that’s best for them. Ultimately, the partnership between the state and its independent colleges and universities save billions in taxpayer dollars.”

– Abraham M. Lackman, President, Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities

“I’m thrilled to see this innovative capital matching program become a reality. This partnership between private colleges and universities and the State of New York will realize tangible benefits to our communities. Villages, towns and cities will reap the rewards of economic development, urban renewal and historic preservation. And our students and faculty will have enhanced access to state-of-the art learning and research facilities.”

– Lisa Marsh Ryerson, President of Wells College, and Chair of the CICU Board of Trustees

Bipartisan budget makes necessary investments in higher education

The Assembly, Senate and governor passed a fair bipartisan budget that rejects tuition increases and any automatic tuition hikes each year.

SUNY and CUNY students can rest a little easier knowing that our budget protects access to a college degree. The Assembly fought to keep college affordable and defeated the governor’s proposed tuition hike and any automatic increases.

Rejecting cuts to the Tuition Assistance Program

The state budget also rejects the governor’s original proposal to cut 50 percent of the Tuition Assistance Program. TAP has helped countless children from working families achieve their goal of a college education.

Other important higher education items in the bipartisan budget include:

  • restoring community college aid by $115 per Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) student;

  • restoring the governor’s cuts in opportunity programs;

  • rejecting differential tuition that would have made it more expensive to attend our university centers;

  • agreeing on a capital plan; and

  • creating memorial scholarships for the families of American Airlines flight 587 that crashed in Belle Harbor, New York on November 12, 2001.

The Assembly, Senate and governor came together and made an important investment in New York’s colleges and universities. The fair and on-time budget is an important victory for the future of New York’s higher education system.

To find out what your local community college will receive in restored FTE funding, please visit the link: http://assembly.state.ny.us/comm/HiEd/2005CommColl/
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