TUITION AID A ‘$HAM’
Critics rip Cuo college plan as not enough
Lawmakers are calling Gov. Cuomo’s free-collegetuition plan a “sham” because it won’t help as many students as promised and low-income students could still be stuck with big bills.
State legislators are picking apart Cuomo’s $163 million proposal — which would cover tuition at public colleges for in-state students whose families earn less than $100,000 — while slamming a provision that raises tuition at CUNY and SUNY by $250 per year.
“This is not about free tu- ition, it’s about shifting costs and putting added burdens on people in the city,” one legislator said. “This is a sham.”
Critics say the eligibility rules for the free-tuition program are too stringent for students who are enrolled part-time or have jobs outside class. Students must complete 120 credit hours in four years to remain eligible.
“If a student changes their major, took the wrong courses, or if you drop a course and fall below the credit limit then you no longer qualify,” said Yonkers Democratic Assemblyman Gary Pretlow.
Bronx Democratic Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz said the Cuomo plan hurts private colleges that compete with CUNY and SUNY for pupils.
“Some people would be drawn away from those [private] institutions,” he said.
Legislators chided SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher for being unable to answer certain questions about the Cuomo plan at a Jan. 24 budget hearing, fueling speculation that the Governor’s Office underestimated its total cost and is not fully aware of the number of students it could cover, sources said.
Zimpher testified that 80,000 students would be eligible for the program initially while Cuomo’s office projects 200,000 would enroll in the program over a three-year period.
Some lawmakers also criticized Cuomo’s blueprint for increasing CUNY and SUNY tuition, and for lacking non-tuition support money for poor students.
“He wants these scholarships for the middle class and in the same bill he’s allowing universities to increase tuition,” said Assemblyman Charles Barron. “I de- feel it’s disingenuous hypocritical.”
Barron worries the proposal won’t help students from low-income families whose tuition is already covered by federal and state grants but who struggle to pay other expenses such as rent, transportation and food.
Cuomo spokeswoman Dani Lever said the scholarship program will help students from both low- and middle-income families graduate in four years, noting other programs already exist to provide assistance beyond tuition. and