Dive Brief:
- Adult students in New York studying certain high-demand fields would be able to attend community college for free within the state under a new proposal from Gov. Kathy Hochul.
- If passed, state residents ages 25 to 55 could pursue associate degrees in programs like healthcare and manufacturing without paying tuition. The state would also cover the cost of books, transportation and other fees.
- Hochul announced the initiative Tuesday during her annual State of the State address. The proposal marks the Democratic governor’s latest policy effort to boost the profile of New York’s public higher education systems.
Dive Insight:
Hochul framed her proposal — which received a standing ovation — as a means of addressing workforce development gaps.
“These are real savings for New Yorkers pursuing careers and puts money back in their pockets while helping us fill these critical jobs in these essential industries,” she said.
New York has a highly saturated higher education market. Along with its sprawling public systems, the state is home to several high-profile private institutions, including two of the eight Ivy League universities.
The State University of New York and the City University of New York systems, which collectively enroll around 600,000 students, have sought to remain competitive through low pricing and generous financial aid.
The average New York resident attending a four-year SUNY college paid just under $7,100 for tuition in the 2023-24 academic year. That’s compared to about $17,300 for out-of-state students.
The state’s financial aid programs include the Excelsior Scholarship, which covers the cost of tuition for residents with annual household incomes under $125,000.
But both systems struggled with declining enrollment prior to 2023.
Hochul, who took office in 2021 after six years of serving as lieutenant governor, has set ambitious goals for New York’s public colleges and has made higher education initiatives a legislative priority.
At this point, Hochul’s newest proposal is just that — a proposal — and would need approval from the Democratic-controlled Legislature, which has supported Hochul’s education policies before.
For example, Hochul’s budget for fiscal 2025 required high school seniors to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid to graduate. While students could opt out via a waiver, the requirement sought to make them aware of the available financial aid, the governor’s office said.
In 2022, Hochul set a massive goal for SUNY — enroll 500,000 students. The proposed undertaking was significant for a 64-college system that had just under 364,000 students in fall 2022.
SUNY is currently on an upswing. After a decade of losses, the system had two consecutive years of enrollment gains and reached around 376,000 students in fall 2024.
But that improvement is still a far cry from the governor’s goal, for which she did not set a deadline.
The system has rolled out several enrollment initiatives. SUNY launched a direct admissions program in 2023 and sent letters to roughly 125,000 New Yorkers graduating from high school saying they had already been accepted to their local community colleges.
In October, the system also began offering guaranteed admissions for state high school students who graduate in the top 10% of their class. Those eligible are automatically offered acceptance to at least one of nine participating campuses, including the system’s newly anointed flagships, Stony Brook University and University at Buffalo.
Hochul’s new free community college program could give enrollment a boost. The governor’s policy proposal cited the success of a similar program in neighboring Massachusetts.
In August 2023, Massachusetts introduced a free community college program for adults ages 25 and older. That fall, the state’s community colleges enrolled an additional 2,635 students in that age group compared to the year prior — an annual increase of 12%.
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