Expands eligibility for the New York state excelsior scholarship award to certain applicants enrolled on a part-time basis or in a BOCES or other approved vocational program; provides criteria for eligibility, and limits on amounts and durations for any such awards.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A946
SPONSOR: Jacobson TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the education law, in relation to eligibility for the
New York state excelsior scholarship for certain part-time applicants
PURPOSE:
This bill would expand the Excelsior Scholarship Program to part-time
students attending the State University of New York (SUNY) and the City
University of New York (CUNY) and to full and part-time students
enrolled in a Board of Educational Services (BOCES) or other approved
vocational program at a SUNY or CUNY community college.
SUMMARY OF PROVISION:
Section 1 provides as follows: The definition of full-time and part-time
attendance at two-year and four-year colleges operated by SUNY and CUNY
is defined as follows: The number of credits required per academic year
for four-year schools is reduced to 24 credits from 30 credits if
enrolled on a full-time basis or 12 credits per year on a part-time
basis. In the student's last semester, the student may take fewer cred-
its if less are needed to receive his or her degree. Income limits are
increased to $135,000 for the 2022-2023 academic year, $150,000 for the
2023-2024 academic year, and $150,000 for the 2024-2025 academic year
and thereafter. The law currently states that the tuition to be paid for
full-time students is $5,500. This section provides that the tuition to
be paid for part-time students is up to $2,750.
Full-time students will have 2 1/2 years for a two-year degree, 5 years
to obtain a four-year degree, and 6 years for a degree that normally
takes 5 years.
Part-time students will have 5 years to obtain a two-year degree, 10
years to obtain a four-year degree, and 12 years for a degree that
normally takes five years.
Should the student not receive his or her two-year, four-year, or five-
year degree for any reason, the student does not suffer any penalty with
respect to the scholarship received under the Excelsior Program.
Section 2 - This provides for an awarding of an Excelsior Scholarship
for those enrolled at least on a part-time basis at BOCES or other
approved vocational program at a SUNY or CUNY community college.
Section 3 - Effective Date. This act shall take place immediately and
will be effective beginning the 2022-2023 Academic Year.
JUSTIFICATION:
Currently, the Excelsior Scholarship program only covers full-time
students at SUNY or CUNY schools. This leaves out many students who, for
mostly economic reasons, are not able to attend college or training
after high school on a full-time basis.
It has become common knowledge that workers will need to retrain a
number of times over their lifetime. For most workers, it is unrealistic
to go to school full-time since it would mean quitting their jobs. While
these workers might want to go to school full-time, their bills will not
magically go away. Part-time attendance is the only practical route.
Also, many recent high school graduates cannot afford to go to school
full-time, so a part-time option is the only practical route for them as
well.
Further, many students will need vocational training and not a two-year
or four-year degree. This bill provides for such scholarships at two-
year colleges in the SUNY or CUNY system as well as BOCES.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2019-2020: A7486 - Referred to Assembly Higher Education Committee
S5821 - Referred to Senate Higher Education Committee
2021-2022: A601A - Referred to Assembly Higher Education Committee
S4091A - Referred to Senate Higher Education Committee
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
To be determined with respect to the State. This bill will help many
counties and the City of New York whose community colleges are facing
financial difficulties due to declining enrollments.
Counties and the City of New York will benefit from increased enrollment
in their community colleges since the Excelsior Scholarship will be
offered to students who need more than two years to obtain their two-
year degree. This bill will expand the affordability of college.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take place immediately and will be effective beginning
the 2022-2023 Academic Year.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
946
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 11, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. JACOBSON, TAYLOR, REYES, SIMON, LAVINE, SAYEGH,
WALLACE, HYNDMAN, LUPARDO, COLTON, BURKE, EPSTEIN, SEAWRIGHT, McMAHON,
CRUZ, KIM, BUTTENSCHON -- read once and referred to the Committee on
Higher Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to eligibility for the
New York state excelsior scholarship for certain part-time applicants
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivisions 1, 2 and 3 of section 669-h of the education
2 law, subdivision 1 as amended by section 1 of part T of chapter 56 of
3 the laws of 2018, subdivision 2 as amended by section 1 of part G of
4 chapter 56 of the laws of 2022 and subdivision 3 as added by section 1
5 of part HHH of chapter 59 of the laws of 2017, are amended and a new
6 subdivision 2-a is added to read as follows:
7 1. Eligibility. An excelsior scholarship award shall be made to an
8 applicant who: (a) is matriculated in an approved program leading to an
9 undergraduate degree at a New York state public institution of higher
10 education, which for the purposes of this section shall include all
11 two-year and four-year colleges operated by the state university of New
12 York or the city university of New York; (b) if enrolled in (i) a public
13 institution of higher education prior to application, has completed at
14 least [thirty] twenty-four combined credits per year if enrolled on a
15 full-time basis or at least twelve combined credits per year if enrolled
16 on a part-time basis following the student's start date, or its equiv-
17 alent, applicable to his or her program or programs of study or (ii) an
18 institution of higher education prior to application, has completed at
19 least [thirty] twenty-four combined credits per year if enrolled on a
20 full-time basis or at least twelve combined credits per year if enrolled
21 on a part-time basis following the student's start date, or its equiv-
22 alent, applicable to his or her program or programs of study and which
23 were accepted upon transfer to a public institution of higher education;
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02198-01-3
A. 946 2
1 (c) enrolls in at least twelve credits per semester and completes at
2 least [thirty] twenty-four combined credits per year if enrolled on a
3 full-time basis or at least six credits if enrolled on a part-time basis
4 following the student's start date, or its equivalent, applicable to his
5 or her program or programs of study except in limited circumstances as
6 prescribed by the corporation in regulation. Notwithstanding, in the
7 student's last semester, the student may take at least one course needed
8 to meet his or her graduation requirements and enroll in and complete
9 [at least twelve credit hours or its equivalent] as many credits as
10 required to obtain his or her degree. For students who are disabled as
11 defined by the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 USC 12101,
12 the corporation shall prescribe rules and regulations that allow appli-
13 cants who are disabled to be eligible for an award pursuant to this
14 section based on modified criteria; (d) has an adjusted gross income for
15 the qualifying year, as such terms are defined in this subdivision,
16 equal to or less than: (i) one hundred thirty-five thousand dollars for
17 recipients receiving an award in the two thousand [seventeen]
18 twenty-one--two thousand [eighteen] twenty-two academic year; (ii) one
19 hundred [ten] fifty thousand dollars for recipients receiving an award
20 in the two thousand [eighteen] twenty-two--two thousand [nineteen] twen-
21 ty-three academic year; and (iii) one hundred [twenty-five] fifty thou-
22 sand dollars for recipients receiving an award in the two thousand
23 [nineteen] twenty-three--two thousand [twenty] twenty-four academic year
24 and thereafter; and (e) complies with the applicable provisions of this
25 article and all requirements promulgated by the corporation for the
26 administration of the program. Adjusted gross income shall be the total
27 of the combined adjusted gross income of the applicant and the appli-
28 cant's parents or the applicant and the applicant's spouse, if married.
29 Qualifying year shall be the adjusted gross income as reported on the
30 federal income tax return, or as otherwise obtained by the corporation,
31 for the calendar year coinciding with the tax year established by the
32 U.S. department of education to qualify applicants for federal student
33 financial aid programs authorized by Title IV of the Higher Education
34 Act of nineteen hundred sixty-five, as amended, for the school year in
35 which application for assistance is made. Provided, however, if an
36 applicant demonstrates to the corporation that there has been a change
37 in such applicant's adjusted gross income in the year(s) subsequent to
38 the qualifying year which would qualify such applicant for an award, the
39 corporation shall review and make a determination as to whether such
40 applicant meets the requirement set forth in paragraph (d) of this
41 subdivision based on such year. Provided, further that such change was
42 caused by the death, permanent and total physical or mental disability,
43 divorce, or separation by judicial decree or pursuant to an agreement of
44 separation which is filed with a court of competent jurisdiction of any
45 person whose income was required to be used to compute the applicant's
46 total adjusted gross income.
47 2. Amount. Within amounts appropriated therefor and based on avail-
48 ability of funds, awards shall be granted beginning with the two thou-
49 sand [seventeen] twenty-three--two thousand [eighteen] twenty-four
50 academic year and thereafter to applicants that the corporation has
51 determined are eligible to receive such awards. The corporation shall
52 grant such awards for full-time students in an amount up to five thou-
53 sand five hundred dollars or actual tuition, whichever is less and for
54 part-time students in an amount up to two thousand seven hundred fifty
55 dollars or actual tuition, whichever is less; provided, however, (a) a
56 student who receives educational grants and/or scholarships that cover
A. 946 3
1 the student's full cost of attendance shall not be eligible for an award
2 under this program; and (b) an award under this program shall be applied
3 to tuition after the application of payments received under the tuition
4 assistance program pursuant to section six hundred sixty-seven of this
5 subpart, tuition credits pursuant to section six hundred eighty-nine-a
6 of this article, federal Pell grant pursuant to section one thousand
7 seventy of title twenty of the United States code, et seq., and any
8 other program that covers the cost of attendance unless exclusively for
9 non-tuition expenses, and the award under this program shall be reduced
10 in the amount equal to such payments, provided that the combined bene-
11 fits do not exceed five thousand five hundred dollars. Upon notification
12 of an award under this program, the institution shall defer the amount
13 of tuition. Notwithstanding paragraph h of subdivision two of section
14 three hundred fifty-five and paragraph (a) of subdivision seven of
15 section six thousand two hundred six of this chapter, and any other law,
16 rule or regulation to the contrary, the undergraduate tuition charged by
17 the institution to recipients of an award shall not exceed the tuition
18 rate established by the institution for the two thousand [sixteen] twen-
19 ty-two--two thousand [seventeen] twenty-three academic year provided,
20 however, that in the two thousand [twenty-two] twenty-four--two thousand
21 [twenty-three] twenty-five academic year and every year thereafter, the
22 undergraduate tuition charged by the institution to recipients of an
23 award shall be reset to equal the tuition rate established by the insti-
24 tution for the forthcoming academic year, provided further that the
25 tuition credit calculated pursuant to section six hundred eighty-nine-a
26 of this article shall be applied toward the tuition rate charged for
27 recipients of an award under this program. Provided further that the
28 state university of New York and the city university of New York shall
29 provide an additional tuition credit to students receiving an award to
30 cover the remaining cost of tuition.
31 2-a. In the event that for any reason, the student does not receive
32 his or her two-year, four-year or five-year degree or complete the BOCES
33 or vocational program referred to in paragraph (g) of subdivision four
34 of this section, the student shall not suffer any penalty with respect
35 to the scholarship received under the excelsior scholarship program.
36 3. Duration. An eligible recipient shall not receive an award for more
37 than [four] five academic years of full-time or ten academic years of
38 part-time undergraduate study for a four-year degree or [five] six full-
39 time or twelve part-time academic years if the program of study normally
40 requires five years. An eligible recipient enrolled full-time in an
41 eligible [two year] two-year program of study shall not receive an award
42 for more than two and a half academic years and an eligible recipient
43 enrolled part-time in an eligible two year program of study shall not
44 receive an award for more than five academic years. Notwithstanding,
45 such duration may be extended for an allowable interruption of study
46 including, but not limited to, death of a family member, medical leave,
47 military service, and parental leave, as established by the corporation
48 in regulation.
49 § 2. Subdivision 4 of section 669-h of the education law is amended by
50 adding a new paragraph (g) to read as follows:
51 (g) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, an
52 applicant who satisfied all other requirements of this section shall be
53 eligible to receive an award pursuant to this section if such applicant
54 is enrolled on at least a part-time basis or its equivalent in a board
55 of educational services (BOCES) or other approved vocational program at
56 a SUNY or CUNY community college as determined by the applicable educa-
A. 946 4
1 tional authority. Within amounts appropriated therefor and based on
2 availability of funds, awards shall be granted beginning with the two
3 thousand twenty-three--two thousand twenty-four academic year and there-
4 after to applicants that the corporation has determined are eligible to
5 receive such awards. The corporation shall grant such awards to eligible
6 full-time and part-time students in accordance with subdivision three of
7 this section. A recipient eligible for an award pursuant to this para-
8 graph shall not receive an award for more than four academic years of
9 full-time or eight academic years of part-time enrollment in such BOCES
10 or other approved vocational program. Years enrolled are not required to
11 be consecutive.
12 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to any
13 eligible applicant beginning with the 2023-2024 academic year.
