Senate Bill S3604

                                 BILL NUMBER:  S3604

 TITLE OF BILL :
An act to amend the education law, in relation to fees of students of
the state university of New York


 PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL :
This bill is designed to reduce and freeze the amount of fees imposed
on any student of the State University of New York to fifteen percent
of tuition after a phase-out period of three years.

 SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS :
Section 1. S 355 paragraph h of subdivision 2 of the education law is
amended by adding a new subparagraph 10 to include the following:

* the aggregate total of all fees shall not exceed fifteen percent of
tuition

* for those campuses whose fees are more than fifteen percent on the
effective date of this law, must reduce fees to twenty-five percent of
tuition one year after the effective date, twenty percent the year
following, and conform to fifteen percent the following year
* fees shall exclude the student activity fee, the Empire State
College's one-time assessment fee, the parking fee and fines, fees,
deposits and charges for violation of institutional relations, late
              

registrations, and damage and breakage

 JUSTIFICATION :
Currently a New York State resident's tuition at the State University
of New York is $4,660, and an out-of-state resident's tuition is
$11,740. In addition the university imposes fees on a campus by campus
basis.  For many colleges these fees are contained to a reasonable
level, providing advanced services with limited student financial
burden.  Unfortunately, many campuses have increased fees beyond a
reasonable limit. Fees can range from $315 to $1,607 equaling up to
34% for an in-state resident tuition or 10% for an out-of-state
resident tuition. The Tuition Assistance Program does not cover this
unnecessary burden.

This bill will gradually reduce and limit the fees imposed on students
to fifteen percent of tuition. This amount equals to $699.00 for an
instate resident and $1,761.00 for an out-of-state resident Colleges
who have historically higher fees will have the opportunity to phase
down their fees over a three-year period. This time span will ensure
that students' programs will not be drastically affected. In addition,
since this bill only targets those colleges with unreasonable fees,
only approximately nine colleges will need to reduce their fees over
the course of three years. Other colleges will merely need to maintain
their fee structure. The passage of this bill will relieve students of
this unnecessary and unreasonable financial burden that may have
restricted their access to higher education.

 PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :
2001 - A.2357 - Ways & Means, 2004 - A.3623 Referred to Higher
Education, 2006 - A.9269 Referred to Higher Education. 2007-08: A.4216
Referred to Higher Education.

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :
To be determined.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
This act shall take effect on the first of July next succeeding the
date on which it shall have become a law and shall apply provided
herein to semesters and quarters which occur after the effective date
of this act.