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New York becomes the first state to offer tuition-free college for middle class

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G

GK86

Homeland Security Fail
Link.

Governor Andrew Cuomo introduced the tuition-free plan in January. Lawmakers agreed to include it in the state budget, which was approved by the Assembly on Saturday and by the Senate late Sunday night. The governor is expected to sign the budget bills.

Tuition will be free for residents who earn up to a specific income cap, which will be phased in over the first three years.

Starting this fall, undergraduate students who attend a State University of New York or City University of New York school will be eligible for the Excelsior Scholarship if their families earn no more than $100,000 a year. The income cap will lift to $110,000 next year and will reach $125,000 in 2019.

Those eligible will pay nothing for tuition, which costs $6,470 annually at four-year schools and about $4,350 a year at community colleges. But they will still be on the hook for the cost of fees and room and board if they live on campus. Those other expenses can add up to $14,000 a year.

Students must take 30 credits a year to receive the scholarship. Some lawmakers had spoken out against this requirement, because it excludes students who enroll part time.

In the final proposal, Cuomo said the credit requirement is "flexible" so that any student facing hardship will be able to pause and restart the program, or take fewer credits one semester than another.

After they graduate, students who receive the scholarship must live and work in New York for the same number of years they received funding. If they leave the state, their scholarship will be converted into a loan. This requirement was not included in the governor's initial proposal.

"Today, college is what high school was -- it should always be an option even if you can't afford it," Governor Cuomo said in a statement.
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A

Air

Banned
Sweet. Would have been nice before I went to (and graduated college), but I guess if I want to pursue a different career path I have some options now.
 
C

CHC

Member
There's not a ton of information on this so far.... But I'll ask anyway.

Can you get this and Pell Grants at the same time? As in, have no tuition to pay but then get Pell aid for expenses federally?
 
A

Ace 8095

Member
You've got to stay in New York or else pay it back? Look like we've had a much better deal in Georgia for over 20 year now.
 
Zoe

Zoe

Member
After they graduate, students who receive the scholarship must live and work in New York for the same number of years they received funding. If they leave the state, their scholarship will be converted into a loan.
Click to expand...

The "and work" part may turn out to be problematic, but on the surface I don't have a problem with this.
 
E

El_Tiguere

Member
Thank you Bernie Sanders for planting the seed for progress in our country.

If we had left it to the docile corrupt corporatist Democrats, we would be talking about slow incremental hopefully-maybe-one-day cheaper college because-too-much-bold-change-is-not-possible all the way until 2024.
 
legacyzero

legacyzero

Banned
"Pie in the sky"

Cuomo still prepping that 2020 run I see. I hope this works out great. More fuel for a progressive agenda come 2018 and 2020.

BERNIE DOT GIF
 
I

Infinite

Member
CHC said:
There's not a ton of information on this so far.... But I'll ask anyway.

Can you get this and Pell Grants at the same time? As in, have no tuition to pay but then get Pell aid for expenses federally?
Click to expand...

The article says no.

Zoe said:
The "and work" part may turn out to be problematic, but on the surface I don't have a problem with this.
Click to expand...
So you if you're not working but living in the state you have to pay the loan?
 
diablos991

diablos991

Can’t stump the diablos
That would suck to be stuck to NY for 4-5 years after graduating with a BS degree. Those graduates are ripe for low salary offers.

Guess it's better than not getting a degree though.

Would have also liked to have seen a sliding scale of cost responsibility. Not a hard fast line drawn in the sand.
 
A

Aeana

Member
Infinite said:
The article says no.


So you if you're not working but living in the state you have to pay the loan?
Click to expand...

Based on the wording, that's not my take. It seems like they can't leave the state until they have worked there for the requisite number of years. Presumably if they are unemployed, then they're just "trapped" in New York for longer.
 
I

Infinite

Member
diablos991 said:
That would suck to be stuck to NY for 4-5 years after graduating with a BS degree. Those graduates are ripe for low salary offers.

Guess it's better than not getting a degree though.

Would have also liked to have seen a sliding scale of cost responsibility. Not a hard fast line drawn in the sand.
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Being in NYC though? Nah

I agree with your second point however
 
T

The Lamp

Member
As an engineering graduate, only problem I see with this is the credit hour requirement and NY living requirement.

Engineers have messy semesters with 1 credit hour labs and research and 4 credit hour courses that are often dropped or failed and retaken because they're so difficult. In addition, some engineering industries are nearly non-existent in New York (ChemE jobs may be in NJ instead, for example), so where are people with careers like this supposed to start? You're trapped in NY.

In addition, some people may need to work part time and go to school part time. The scholarship should help them out too.
 
P

Pau

Member
Sibersk Esto said:
I just had to graduate last year.
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I graduated December 2016. I know how you feel. :p I had a scholarship that covered me for two of the three years at least, but this would have been pretty great.

The 30 credits thing would also have been tough for me but then I probably wouldn't have done a part time job.

CHC said:
Holy shit this applies to me! Wow!
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Nice!
 
S

ShadowKingpin

Member
This is somewhat relatable, but with Tennessee going tuition-free, what's the major difference besides work in NY for 4 years? I noticed in Tennessee's plan, that it's a last-follar effort? Does that mean students are still forced to get student loans?
 
T

Trey

Member
That credit hour requirement is the only thing I don't quite like, though it depends on how flexible that is.
 
S

Skellig Gra

Member
So you still have to pay frees (like $2k a year) and for books as well as room/board (not really an issue).

For those in Germany/free university countries do you have to pay anything like this? Can you live on campus for free, do you have to pay for your books?
 
C

captmcblack

Member
EXCELLENT.

That credit hour requirement sucks, but it guarantees that people go to school and finish school so that more people can get in/get out and benefit from this.
 
B

balladofwindfishes

Member
I think they should tweak the income numbers a bit so it isn't a hard line (so getting a raise doesn't suddenly put you into 30k debt), but otherwise this is fantastic.

My brother is starting school next year, and this announcement has made him go back and see if he wants to change schools.
 
T

TyrantII

Member
El_Tiguere said:
Thank you Bernie Sanders for planting the seed for progress in our country.

If we had left it to the docile corrupt corporatist Democrats, we would be talking about slow incremental hopefully-maybe-one-day cheaper college because-too-much-bold-change-is-not-possible all the way until 2024.
Click to expand...

Wat?
 
RoadHazard

RoadHazard

Gold Member
obin_gam said:
Isnt that almost exactly as we have though?
Courses and degrees are free, but we have to buy books and pay rent for dorms and apts.
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Hmm, I suppose, but here (Sweden) it's free for everyone. Perhaps you could argue that the upper class doesn't "need" free education, but yeah. And we also get student allowance/grant (or however you would translate "studiebidrag") at around 3000 SEK/month to pay for those books and other stuff, plus extremely advantageous student loans (best loan you'll get in your life) if you need more to pay for your apartment or such. So we actually get paid to study. And there's none of those requirements that you stay in a certain place and get a job or whatever. It's more of a no-questions-asked thing here, a right for everyone to get an education that we simply take for granted.

But still, like I said, this is a very good step in the right direction. Education should be a right, not a privilege.

EDIT:

Hollywood Duo said:
So you still have to pay frees (like $2k a year) and for books as well as room/board (not really an issue).

For those in Germany/free university countries do you have to pay anything like this? Can you live on campus for free, do you have to pay for your books?
Click to expand...

See above. We do have to pay for housing, books, etc, but we get money that covers at least the books and some other stuff (this money is completely "free", and is not paid back), and loans with very good terms to cover apartment costs if needed.
 
B

balladofwindfishes

Member
El_Tiguere said:
Thank you Bernie Sanders for planting the seed for progress in our country.

If we had left it to the docile corrupt corporatist Democrats, we would be talking about slow incremental hopefully-maybe-one-day cheaper college because-too-much-bold-change-is-not-possible all the way until 2024.
Click to expand...

Governor Cuomo was pushing for a 15 dollar minimum wage in NYS before Bernie Sanders was even dreaming of running for president.

He's also the most establishment established shill corporate Democrat that ever existed and yet here we are in this thread about how he just passed free college tuition.

The idea that every major liberal legislation that passed post 2016 was directly thanks to Bernie Sanders is ridiculous.
 
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