STATEN ISLAND –Republican Assemblywoman for Brooklyn and Staten Island Nicole Malliotakis on March 27 again proposed her years-old plan to expand the state’s existing Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) as an alternative to Governor Andrew Cuomo’s proposal to make tuition free for middle class students at public colleges which excludes private schools.
Cuomo’s plan would give free tuition to New York’s public colleges for families earning up to $100,000 beginning in the fall, increasing the threshold to $110,000 in 2018 and $125,000 in 2019. Other college expenses including room and board, books and transportation are not covered by Cuomo’s proposal.
Opponents note the proposal has many problems, especially the fact that students at private universities are left out of the free tuition plan.
As reported in the Staten Island Advance, the governor’s budget proposal would offer TAP only to students who attend colleges with tuition increases below $500 or the annual increase in the Higher Education Price Index, whichever is greater.
Cuomo plans to cut off direct institutional or Bundy Aid, to colleges that exceed the increase maximum which could hurt private colleges that are often the main employer and drivers of their local communities.
Private colleges could see serious decreases in enrollment while public colleges would face increases they may not be able to handle, opponents of the proposal, including private college administrators, point out.
Choices could be limited for students and private colleges could suffer from unfair competition with the public colleges. TAP funding would still be available, though the governor’s plan calls for an extra $163 million for the remaining costs of public college tuition.
Malliotakis calls Cuomo’s plan “socialism” in a press conference at Wagner College. She opposes the government paying for college tuition and proposes expansion of the TAP program to help more students afford college. Dr. Richard Guarasci, president of Wagner College, and Dr. James O’Keefe, vice provost of St. John’s University, Staten Island campus, agreed with Malliotakis.
Malliotakis’ bill was first introduced in 2014 to increase the income cap from $80,000 to $100,000 for TAP, and noted that up to $125,000 would also be acceptable. The maximum award is currently $5,165 and would go up to $6,470 which matches the current cost of tuition at the State University of New York (SUNY). For those who qualify, the Malliotakis proposal would provide free tuition at SUNY and City University of New York (CUNY) schools, with students at private colleges also allowed to receive state aid. Malliotakis would also like to see the return of funding for graduate students through TAP which ended in 2010.
In previous discussion of her proposal, Malliotakis often notes that legal New York residents should receive the expanded TAP funding before undocumented students. She also noted that the income cap has not increased since 2000 which she said, “is shocking because everything else has increased, cost of living, tuition [and] TAP is so important to so many middle class families.”
The state budget is currently being negotiated leading up to its Friday deadline. Malliotakis hopes her proposal is included.Though she is a member of the minority party in the house, Malliotakis has support from Staten Island’s two state senators, Andrew Lanza, a member of the Republican majority, and Diane Savino, a member of the Independent Democratic Conference.Assembly Republican Minority Leader Brian Kolb also supports a GOP alternative to the governor’s plan.
“This is the final push,” Malliotakis observed, as the Advance reported.
At press time, the governor’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
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