S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   10356
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                              April 29, 2020
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by M. of A. EPSTEIN -- read once and referred to the Commit-
   tee on Higher Education
 
 AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to excluding certain time
   periods from the maximum duration of tuition assistance program awards
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   Section  1.  Subdivision  2  of  section  667 of the education law, as
 amended by chapter 376 of the laws  of  2019,  is  amended  to  read  as
 follows:
   2.  Duration.  No  undergraduate  shall be eligible for more than four
 academic years of study, or five academic years if the program of  study
 normally requires five years. Students enrolled in a program of remedial
 study,  approved  by the commissioner in an institution of higher educa-
 tion and intended to culminate in a degree in undergraduate study shall,
 for purposes of this section, be considered as enrolled in a program  of
 study  normally  requiring five years. An undergraduate student enrolled
 in an eligible two year program of study approved  by  the  commissioner
 shall  be  eligible  for  no more than three academic years of study. An
 undergraduate student enrolled in an approved two or  four-year  program
 of  study  approved  by  the  commissioner  who must transfer to another
 institution as a result of permanent college closure shall  be  eligible
 for  up  to two additional semesters, or their equivalent, to the extent
 credits necessary to complete his or her program of  study  were  deemed
 non-transferable from the closed institution or were deemed not applica-
 ble  to  such  student's  program  of study by the new institution.  Any
 semester, quarter, or term of attendance during which a student receives
 any award under this article, after the effective  date  of  the  former
 scholar  incentive  program  and prior to academic year nineteen hundred
 eighty-nine--nineteen hundred ninety, shall be counted toward the  maxi-
 mum  term  of  eligibility  for  tuition  assistance under this section,
 except that any semester, quarter or term of attendance during  which  a
 student  received  an award pursuant to section six hundred sixty-six of
 this subpart shall be counted as one-half  of  a  semester,  quarter  or
 term,  as  the case may be, toward the maximum term of eligibility under
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
              

                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD16198-02-0

 A. 10356                            2
 
 this section. Any semester, quarter or term of attendance during which a
 student received an award pursuant to section six hundred  sixty-seven-a
 of  this  subpart shall not be counted toward the maximum term of eligi-
 bility  under this section.  ANY SEMESTER, QUARTER OR TERM OF ATTENDANCE
 DURING WHICH A STUDENT CANNOT ATTEND SCHOOL IN-PERSON FOR  TWO  OR  MORE
 WEEKS  DUE TO THE CLOSURE OF SUCH EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION AS A RESULT OF
 A DECLARED STATE DISASTER EMERGENCY SHALL  NOT  BE  COUNTED  TOWARD  THE
 MAXIMUM TERM OF ELIGIBILITY UNDER THIS SECTION.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.