ALBANY -- While Gov. Andrew Cuomo wants to make tuition free at SUNY colleges for income eligible New Yorkers, others might end up with a higher bill.
In his budget proposal, Cuomo would give SUNY schools the ability to raise tuition by as much as $250 a year -- a move that would lead to higher tuition for those households who earn more than $125,000 a year.
Tuition -- currently $6,470 a year at SUNY's four-year colleges -- would increase for all students under the proposal. So the state would actually end up paying more for the free tuition push if the price was raised.
Cuomo's office said the free tuition and the proposal to allow for higher tuition are not at odds with one another.
“The predictable funding plan for SUNY both protect students from tuition spikes that have occurred in the past and provide our public colleges with the additional resources they need," Cuomo's budget spokesman Morris Peters said in a statement.
"This plan goes hand in hand with the governor’s proposal to alleviate the crushing burden of student debt for students from middle-class families.”
Questions remain
Still, the proposal to let colleges increase tuition adds another layer to questions about Cuomo's free tuition proposal, which is in his budget plan and was first announced Jan. 3 with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Assembly Higher Education Committee chairwoman Deborah Glick, D-Manhattan, said she appreciates the Democratic governor's efforts to try to make college more affordable.
But she and others have questioned how much the program would cost. Cuomo has estimated $163 million a year, but critics said it would be much higher.
"I just don’t see how the numbers work," Glick said. "I think it’s a nice slogan, but I don’t know how it adds up."
Cuomo said the state's cost wouldn't be burdensome because New York already subsidizes tuition for low-income students, mainly through its Tuition Assistance Program. The expansion would essentially cover the difference, he said.
Yet Glick said tuition assistance is currently minimal for many middle-class New Yorkers: It's roughly $500 a year for the top income eligibility bracket of $80,000 a year.
Raising the income threshold to $125,000, plus covering the full $6,470 tuition or higher, is a long way from the current reimbursement, she said.
And if people's household income is slightly above the eligibility limit, "They are not going to be happy if down the block, the guy just bought a new car because he’s making $115,000 and he’s not paying for college."
SUNY needs
Cuomo appears to be trying to find a middle ground with SUNY.
The 64-campus system continues to clamor for the ability to independently raise tuition to offset what it says is growing costs.
In 2011, Cuomo and the Legislature approved "SUNY 2020," which let the system raise tuition by $300 a year for five years at its four-year colleges.
So SUNY raised tuition $300 a year for five years, increasing it 30 percent over the period.
Last year, though, SUNY's effort to keep the ability to raise tuition was rejected by the Legislature.
This year, SUNY wanted to be able to let each college raise tuition by either $0, $100, $200 or $300 over the next four years.
So Cuomo's plan would give them some of that authority by letting the system raise tuition by $250 a year for the next five years.
"The budget renews a predictable funding plan for CUNY and SUNY that will both protect students from tuition spikes that have occurred in the past and provide our public colleges with additional resources to invest in college affordability and student success," budget documents said.
SUNY officials praised Cuomo's plans, which also includes 5 percent increase in SUNY state aid to $7.5 billion overall.
“We are thrilled to see college affordability and completion as primary focuses of Governor Cuomo’s executive budget," SUNY chairman Carl McCall and Chancellor Nancy Zimpher said in a statement.
They said Cuomo's plans include a tuition-free program that "goes beyond what any other state has in place, a tuition plan for our state-operated campuses, and a significant increase in capital funding to support our physical infrastructure over the next five years."