S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                  6155--A
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               March 5, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  BAILEY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed  to  the  Committee  on  Higher  Education  --
   committee  discharged,  bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and
   recommitted to said committee
 
 AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to allowing for a  modest
   increase in annual income to not disqualify someone from the excelsior
   scholarship
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 669-h of  the  education  law,  as
 amended  by  section  1  of part T of chapter 56 of the laws of 2018, is
 amended to read as follows:
   1. Eligibility. An excelsior scholarship award shall  be  made  to  an
 applicant  who: (a) is matriculated in an approved program leading to an
 undergraduate degree at a New York state public  institution  of  higher
 education;  (b) if enrolled in (i) a public institution of higher educa-
 tion prior to application, has completed at least thirty combined  cred-
 its  per  year  following  the  student's start date, or its equivalent,
 applicable to [his or her] THEIR program or programs of study or (ii) an
 institution of higher education prior to application, has  completed  at
 least  thirty  combined  credits  per year following the student's start
 date, or its equivalent, applicable to [his or  her]  THEIR  program  or
 programs  of  study  and  which  were accepted upon transfer to a public
 institution of higher education; (c) enrolls in at least twelve  credits
 per  semester  and  completes  at least thirty combined credits per year
 following the student's start date, or  its  equivalent,  applicable  to
 [his  or  her]  THEIR  program  or  programs  of study except in limited
 circumstances as prescribed by the corporation in regulation.   Notwith-
 standing,  in the student's last semester, the student may take at least
 one course needed to meet [his or her] THEIR graduation requirements and
 enroll in and complete at least twelve credit hours or  its  equivalent.
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD10676-06-5
              

 S. 6155--A                          2
 
 For students who are disabled as defined by the Americans With Disabili-
 ties  Act  of  1990, 42 USC 12101, the corporation shall prescribe rules
 and regulations that allow applicants who are disabled  to  be  eligible
 for  an  award  pursuant to this section based on modified criteria; (d)
 FOR THE FIRST SEMESTER APPLYING FOR SUCH SCHOLARSHIP,  has  an  adjusted
 gross  income for the qualifying year, as such terms are defined in this
 subdivision, equal to or less than: (i) one hundred thousand dollars for
 recipients receiving an award in the two thousand  seventeen--two  thou-
 sand  eighteen  academic year; (ii) one hundred ten thousand dollars for
 recipients receiving an award in the two thousand eighteen--two thousand
 nineteen academic year;  and  (iii)  one  hundred  twenty-five  thousand
 dollars  for recipients receiving an award in the two thousand nineteen-
 -two thousand twenty academic year and thereafter; and (e) complies with
 the applicable provisions of this article and all  requirements  promul-
 gated by the corporation for the administration of the program. Adjusted
 gross income shall be the total of the combined adjusted gross income of
 the  applicant  and  the  applicant's  parents  or the applicant and the
 applicant's spouse, if married. Qualifying year shall  be  the  adjusted
 gross  income as reported on the federal income tax return, or as other-
 wise obtained by the corporation, for the calendar year coinciding  with
 the  tax year established by the U.S. department of education to qualify
 applicants for federal student  financial  aid  programs  authorized  by
 Title  IV of the Higher Education Act of nineteen hundred sixty-five, as
 amended, for the school year in  which  application  for  assistance  is
 made. Provided, however, if an applicant demonstrates to the corporation
 that  there  has been a change in such applicant's adjusted gross income
 in the year(s) subsequent to the qualifying  year  which  would  qualify
 such  applicant  for  an  award, the corporation shall review and make a
 determination as to whether such applicant  meets  the  requirement  set
 forth in paragraph (d) of this subdivision based on such year. Provided,
 further  that  such  change was caused by the death, permanent and total
 physical or mental disability, divorce, or separation by judicial decree
 or pursuant to an agreement of separation which is filed with a court of
 competent jurisdiction of any person whose income  was  required  to  be
 used  to  compute the applicant's total adjusted gross income.  PROVIDED
 FURTHER, HOWEVER, THAT A RECIPIENT'S MAXIMUM  ALLOWABLE  ADJUSTED  GROSS
 INCOME  SHALL  INCREASE  BY THREE PER CENTUM AFTER THE FIRST SEMESTER OF
 SUCH SCHOLARSHIP AND MAY INCREASE FURTHER WHERE THE CORPORATION, IN  ITS
 DISCRETION, DETERMINES THAT SUCH A FURTHER INCREASE SHALL NOT DISQUALIFY
 AN APPLICANT.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.