LONG ISLAND CITY — Gov. Andrew Cuomo wants to offer free tuition at SUNY and CUNY colleges for New Yorkers earning $125,000 or less a year.
The governor announced the proposal, called the Excelsior Scholarship, Tuesday at LaGuardia Community College alongside U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, who promised to make colleges tuition-free during his run for president last year.
Under Cuomo's plan, full-time students accepted to any SUNY or CUNY two or four-year college course would be able to receive supplemental aid to cover the cost of tuition if they or their families make $125,000 or less a year.
Part-time students — who make up 43 percent of those enrolled in New York's public community colleges, according to a recent study — would not be eligible for the program, which would only be available to those taking classes full-time.
Undocumented immigrant students would also not qualify, since the Excelsior Scholarship is designed to supplement the state's existing aid program, for which undocumented residents are currently ineligible.
But Cuomo's office says that the governor supports the New York DREAM Act, which would allow undocumented students to apply for state financial aid, and will push for both its passage and that of his tuition plan, according to a statement.
Even with those exceptions, Cuomo estimates that some 940,000 New Yorkers would be eligible for the free tuition initiative, which he hopes to begin phasing in starting this fall, pending the approval of state lawmakers.
"It's incredibly hard and getting harder to get a college education today. It is incredibly expensive, and the debt is so high it's like starting a race with an anchor tied to your leg," Cuomo said. "New York State is going to do something about it."
The Excelsior Scholarship would cost the state approximately $163 million a year and would operate in conjunction with the state's current Tuition Assistance Program, known as TAP grants, according to Cuomo's office.
Eligible students would still receive TAP and any other applicable federal grants and the state would offer additional funding to cover the remaining tuition costs, according to a press release.
The average price to attend a SUNY or CUNY school currently ranges from $6,330 to $6,470 a year for a bachelor's degree and $4,350 to $4,800 a year for an associate's degree, Cuomo's office said.
If approved by the State Legislature, the program would be rolled out gradually over the next three years, starting in the fall of 2017 for New Yorkers making up to $100,000 a year.
It would increase in 2018 for those earning up to $110,000 and reaching $125,000 in 2019, according to the governor.
Sanders, who campaigned at LaGuardia Community College during his presidential run, praised Cuomo's plan as "a revolutionary idea for higher education."
"If we are going to do justice to the working families of this country, to low-income families, if we are going to have an economy that creates the kinds of jobs that we need for our people, we must have the best educated workforce in the world," he said.
"If New York State does it this year, mark my words, state after state will follow."
