Assembly Bill A2354

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   2354
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                             January 16, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by M. of A. EPSTEIN, SEAWRIGHT, CLARK, SIMON, COLTON, JACOB-
   SON, KELLES, CRUZ, ZINERMAN, GIBBS, RAMOS, SAYEGH, CUNNINGHAM,  LEVEN-
   BERG,  REYES, RAGA, FORREST -- read once and referred to the Committee
   on Higher Education
 
 AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to expanding  eligibility
   for the tuition assistance program

   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 STUDENT 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
 education  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] SUCH UNDERGRADUATE
 STUDENT'S program of study were deemed non-transferable from the  closed
 institution  or  were deemed not applicable to such student's program of
 study by the new institution. NO GRADUATE STUDENT SHALL BE ELIGIBLE  FOR
 MORE THAN FOUR ACADEMIC YEARS OF STUDY  PROVIDED, HOWEVER, THAT NO GRAD-
 UATE  STUDENT SHALL BE ELIGIBLE FOR MORE THAN ONE DEGREE PROGRAM AT  THE
 MASTER'S,  FIRST  PROFESSIONAL OR DOCTORATE  LEVEL.  NO STUDENT SHALL BE
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD04328-01-5
              

 A. 2354                             2
 
 ELIGIBLE FOR A TOTAL OF MORE THAN  THE  EQUIVALENT  OF  EIGHT  YEARS  OF
 COMBINED   UNDERGRADUATE   AND GRADUATE STUDY. 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--nine-
 teen  hundred ninety, shall be counted toward the maximum term of eligi-
 bility for tuition assistance under this section, except that any semes-
 ter, 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 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 eligibility  under  this  section.
 FOR  THE  PURPOSES  OF  THIS SECTION, AN ACADEMIC YEAR SHALL INCLUDE ANY
 OPTIONAL ACADEMIC SEMESTER, QUARTER OR TERM AND ANY AWARD MADE FOR  SUCH
 OPTIONAL ACADEMIC SEMESTER, QUARTER OR TERM SHALL NOT REDUCE THE MAXIMUM
 TERM OF ELIGIBILITY UNDER THIS SECTION.
   § 2. Paragraph c of subdivision 3 of section 667 of the education law,
 as  relettered by section 2 of part J of chapter 58 of the laws of 2011,
 is relettered paragraph d and a new paragraph c  is  added  to  read  as
 follows:
   C. AMOUNT. THE PRESIDENT SHALL MAKE AWARDS TO GRADUATE STUDENTS IN THE
 FOLLOWING AMOUNTS:
   (I)  FOR  EACH YEAR OF GRADUATE STUDY, ASSISTANCE SHALL BE PROVIDED AS
 COMPUTED ON THE BASIS OF THE AMOUNT WHICH IS THE LESSER OF  THE  FOLLOW-
 ING:
   (A) FIVE HUNDRED FIFTY DOLLARS; OR
   (B)  ONE HUNDRED PERCENT OF THE AMOUNT OF TUITION (EXCLUSIVE OF EDUCA-
 TIONAL FEES).
   (II) EXCEPT FOR STUDENTS AS NOTED IN SUBPARAGRAPH (III) OF THIS  PARA-
 GRAPH,  THE  BASE AMOUNT AS DETERMINED IN SUBPARAGRAPH (I) OF THIS PARA-
 GRAPH, SHALL BE REDUCED IN RELATION TO INCOME AS FOLLOWS:
 
 AMOUNT OF INCOME                    SCHEDULE OF REDUCTION
                                     OF BASE AMOUNT
 (A) LESS THAN TWO THOUSAND          NONE
     DOLLARS
 (B) TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS OR         SEVEN AND SEVEN-TENTHS PER CENTUM
     MORE, BUT NOT MORE THAN         OF THE EXCESS OVER TWO THOUSAND
     TWENTY THOUSAND DOLLARS         DOLLARS
 
   (III) FOR STUDENTS WHO HAVE BEEN GRANTED EXCLUSION OF PARENTAL  INCOME
 AND WERE SINGLE WITH NO DEPENDENT FOR INCOME TAX PURPOSES DURING THE TAX
 YEAR NEXT PRECEDING THE ACADEMIC YEAR FOR WHICH APPLICATION IS MADE, THE
 BASE  AMOUNT  AS DETERMINED IN SUBPARAGRAPH (I) OF THIS PARAGRAPH, SHALL
 BE REDUCED IN RELATION TO INCOME AS FOLLOWS:
 
 AMOUNT OF INCOME                    SCHEDULE OF REDUCTION
                                     OF BASE AMOUNT
 (A) LESS THAN ONE THOUSAND          NONE
     DOLLARS
 (B) ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS OR         TWENTY-SIX PER CENTUM OF THE
     MORE, BUT NOT MORE THAN         EXCESS OVER ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS
     FIVE THOUSAND SIX HUNDRED
     SIXTY-SIX DOLLARS
 A. 2354                             3
 
   (IV) IF THE AMOUNT OF REDUCTION IS NOT A WHOLE  DOLLAR,  IT  SHALL  BE
 REDUCED TO THE NEXT LOWEST WHOLE DOLLAR.
   (V)  THE  AWARD  SHALL BE THE NET AMOUNT OF THE BASE AMOUNT DETERMINED
 PURSUANT TO SUBPARAGRAPH (II) OR (III) OF THIS PARAGRAPH BUT  THE  AWARD
 SHALL  NOT  BE REDUCED BELOW SEVENTY-FIVE DOLLARS. IF THE INCOME EXCEEDS
 THE MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF INCOME ALLOWABLE UNDER SUBPARAGRAPH (II) OR  (III)
 OF THIS PARAGRAPH, NO AWARD SHALL BE MADE.
   §  3.  This act shall take effect on the first of July next succeeding
 the date on which it shall have become a law.