Senate Bill S6607B

                                 BILL NUMBER:  S6607

 TITLE OF BILL :

An act to amend the education law, in relation to the matching award
and tuition requirements of enhanced tuition awards

 PURPOSE OR IDEA OF GENERAL BILL :

New York State took further steps as a national leader in higher
education affordability with the launch of the Excelsior Scholarship
and Enhanced Tuition Awards (ETA) in 2017. However, two years earlier,
reacting to concerns about the escalating costs of higher education
and the resultant impacts on student loan indebtedness, a private
not-for-profit institution - Utica College - became the first in the
state to substantial lower or "reset" its tuition. The new amount was
set at $19,996, a reduction of approximately $14,000 per year or 42
percent, a price point not seen since the 2003-04 academic year.

In the ETA program, there are two requirements for participation by a
college: an agreement to match the State's $3,000 contribution to each
student and a pledge to freeze the tuition of that student.

In the case of the matching requirement, Utica College used up the
means to produce a $3,000 match due to the much-larger $14,000 annual
reduction. By waiving the match requirement for institutions that
              

lower their tuition by more than 15 percent, Utica and others would be
able to participate in the ETA program, driving down the tuition cost
for New York State residents to $17,000 per year.

In the case of a tuition freeze for four years, it would take Utica
College over 12 years to get back to the tuition level abandoned in
2015 at annual increases of 3 percent, the amount of statutory
increases included for SUNY in the 2017-18 budget.

 SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS :

Section 1 of the bill amends subsection 5 of section 667-d of the
education law to provide that if an institution lowered tuition by
more than 15 percent over the last five years that such action shall
be the equivalent of providing the matching award.

Section 2 of the bill amends subsection 6 of section 667-d of the
education law to provide that if an institution lowered tuition by
more than 15 percent over the last five years that such action shall
be the equivalent of providing the tuition freeze.

Section 3 is the effective date, which is immediate.

 JUSTIFICATION :

Reducing tuition through such substantial reductions or "resets" is
clearly the type of behavior from private institutions that the State
should want to incentivize, but the ETA statute's match and freeze
requirements as written would unfortunately preclude them from
participation, providing a disincentive for others to follow suit.

 PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :

New.

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :

None to the state.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
Immediate.

                                 BILL NUMBER:  S6607A

 TITLE OF BILL :

An act to amend the education law, in relation to the matching award
and tuition requirements of enhanced tuition awards

 PURPOSE OR IDEA OF GENERAL BILL :

New York State took further steps as a national leader in higher
education affordability with the launch of the Excelsior Scholarship
and Enhanced Tuition Awards (ETA) in 2017. However, two years earlier,
reacting to concerns about the escalating costs of higher education
and the resultant impacts on student loan indebtedness, a private
not-for-profit institution - Utica College - became the first in the
state to substantial lower or "reset" its tuition. The new amount was
set at $19,996, a reduction of approximately $14,000 per year or 42
percent, a price point not seen since the 2003-04 academic year.

In the ETA program, there are two requirements for participation by a
college: an agreement to match the State's $3,000 contribution to each
student and a pledge to freeze the tuition of that student.

In the case of the matching requirement, Utica College used up the
means to produce a $3,000 match due to the much-larger $14,000 annual
reduction. By waiving the match requirement for institutions that
              

lower their tuition by more than 15 percent, Utica and others would be
able to participate in the ETA program, driving down the tuition cost
for New York State residents to $17,000 per year.

In the case of a tuition freeze for four years, it would take Utica
College over 12 years to get back to the tuition level abandoned in
2015 at annual increases of 3 percent, the amount of statutory
increases included for SUNY in the 2017-18 budget.

 SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS :

Section 1 of the bill amends subsection 5 of section 667-d of the
education law to provide that if an institution lowered tuition by
more than 15 percent over the last five years that such action shall
be the equivalent of providing the matching award.

Section 2 of the bill amends subsection 6 of section 667-d of the
education law to provide that if an institution lowered tuition by
more than 15 percent over the last five years that such action shall
be the equivalent of providing the tuition freeze.

Section 3 is the effective date, which is immediate.

 JUSTIFICATION :

Reducing tuition through such substantial reductions or "resets" is
clearly the type of behavior from private institutions that the State
should want to incentivize, but the ETA statute's match and freeze
requirements as written would unfortunately preclude them from
participation, providing a disincentive for others to follow suit.

 PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :

New.

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :

None to the state.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
Immediate.