COVID-19 May Lose Free Tuition In State Colleges For New Yorkers

For some students, the only chance to graduate is through free study programs in New York. This opportunity is now threatened - just when students need it the most. The edition writes about it CNBC.

Since April 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic hit New York City, it has caused a sharp decline in state revenues. As a result, the processing of new applications from students applying for financial assistance in their studies was delayed. This was reported by the New York State Higher Education Services Corporation (HESC), an agency providing financial aid to university students in the state, including an Excelsior scholarship.

The Excelsior Scholarship rose to prominence in 2017 as the first scholarship in the country to cover four years of study without reference to academic achievement.

Other programs typically offer students two years of free tuition at the participating community colleges and vocational schools. “These can be promises that don't come true,” says Kalman Chany, financial aid consultant and author of Paying for College, The Princeton Review.

Earlier it became known that more than 940 thousand New Yorkers from the middle class, with an annual income of up to $ 125 thousand per year, will be eligible to participate in the program when it completes its three-year phase this year. The New York program applies to all schools of the City University of New York and State University of New York.

The state will continue to pay bonuses this fall to eligible students. This was announced by Angela Liotta, HESC spokeswoman.

Still, "the state is grappling with a devastating $ 62 billion in revenue loss in four years." “In the absence of multi-year federal funding to offset this loss, future compensation, including the Excelsior Fellowship, may need to be scaled back and / or prioritized for current recipients,” she said.

In the 2019-2020 academic year, more than 28 middle-class students received the Excelsior scholarship.

Meanwhile, college tuition costs are skyrocketing. Tuition and living fees for four years of study at a private college averaged $ 49 in the 870-2019 academic year; at public colleges - $ 2020.

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Nearly 70% of families are worried about how they will cover their children's education costs, according to a report released in June by Discover Student Loans. More than half of them say their higher education plans have changed due to COVID-19.

"The level of funding that the federal government provides to states will ultimately determine the size of New York State's budget and the level of funding for bailout programs," Liotta said.

Most of the aid programs, including the Excelsior Scholarship, are so-called "last dollar" scholarships. As the name suggests, such scholarships are paid after all other financial resources and grants have been provided; the calculation of the amount is based on the difference between what assistance was provided and what assistance is still needed to help the student meet the tuition fees.

As previously wrote ForumDaily New York:

• In New York there 10 best schoolsthat put high school students in a better position to go to college more easily.
• We also recall that in New York, due to the epidemic changed the requirements for obtaining a certificate about secondary education.
• Amazon, Google, JPMorgan Chase and two dozen other tech giants promised to hire 100 thousand minority representatives New York.