Bill Text: NY A02821 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Creates the "affordable college education scholarship program" within the state university system, including SUNY, CUNY and participating community colleges; provides a low tuition for eligible students selected based upon academic merit.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 4-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-07-14 - held for consideration in higher education [A02821 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-A02821-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 2821 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY January 25, 2019 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. KOLB, BRABENEC, GIGLIO -- read once and referred to the Committee on Higher Education AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to creating the afforda- ble college education scholarship program The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "affordable 2 college education scholarship program". 3 § 2. Legislative intent. The legislature finds that higher education 4 is critical to the future of many New Yorkers and a highly educated 5 workforce is paramount to bolstering a healthy economy in New York 6 State. Unfortunately, the rising cost of college is placing a financial 7 strain on students and families and jeopardizing the future of the 8 state's economy. Addressing that financial strain and the need to invest 9 in New York's workforce are necessary steps in securing New York's 10 future economy. Therefore the affordable college education scholarship 11 program is established to provide families with the ability to send 12 their children to college to earn a bachelor's degree for $10,000. The 13 affordable college education scholarship program will provide deserving 14 students and their families an affordable pathway to a college educa- 15 tion. 16 § 3. The education law is amended by adding a new article 14-B to read 17 as follows: 18 ARTICLE 14-B 19 AFFORDABLE COLLEGE EDUCATION SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM 20 Section 696. Definitions. 21 696-a. Duties of the commissioner. 22 696-b. Income. 23 696-c. Eligibility. 24 696-d. Duration. 25 696-e. Cost of program. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD04209-01-9A. 2821 2 1 696-f. Financial aid. 2 696-g. Notification. 3 § 696. Definitions. As used in this article: 4 1. "Participating community college" means any community college 5 established and operated pursuant to the provisions of article one 6 hundred twenty-six of this chapter, and providing two-year post-secon- 7 dary programs in general and technical education subjects and receiving 8 financial assistance from the state. 9 2. "Participating four-year college" means any university or college 10 of the state university of New York as established by subdivision three 11 of section three hundred fifty-two of this chapter and the city univer- 12 sity of New York as established by article one hundred twenty-five of 13 this chapter that provide four-year bachelor degree programs. 14 3. "Good academic standing" for the purposes of this article means 15 retaining a minimum grade point average of 2.5 or the equivalent. 16 § 696-a. Duties of the commissioner. The commissioner shall establish 17 an application and application process for the affordable college educa- 18 tion scholarship program. The commissioner shall select one thousand 19 qualified applicants per year for participation in the affordable 20 college education scholarship program, from among candidates who meet 21 and exceed the minimum eligibility requirements, in order of merit on 22 the basis of such combination of test scores, academic records, and 23 personal qualifications as the commissioner deems appropriate. 24 § 696-b. Income. 1. Definition. "Income" shall be the total of the 25 combined net taxable income and income from pensions of New York state, 26 local governments, the federal government and any private employer of 27 the applicant, the applicant's spouse, and the applicant's parents or 28 legal guardian, including any pension and annuity income excluded for 29 purposes of taxation pursuant to paragraph three-a of subsection (c) of 30 section six hundred twelve of the tax law, as reported in New York state 31 income tax returns for the calendar year next preceding the beginning of 32 the school year for which the application is made. The term "parent" 33 shall include birth parents, stepparents, adoptive parents and the 34 spouse of an adoptive parent. Income, if not a whole dollar amount, 35 shall be assumed to be equal to the next lowest whole dollar amount. Any 36 change in the status of an applicant with regard to the persons respon- 37 sible for the applicant's support occurring after the beginning of any 38 semester shall not be considered to change the applicant's eligibility. 39 2. Separation of parents. If the parents of an applicant are living 40 apart, the income of the applicant shall be based upon the income of 41 that parent with whom the applicant is living; or who exercises custody 42 if the applicant is a minor, or would exercise custody if the applicant 43 were a minor, and any appropriate payments for the support of the appli- 44 cant from the other parent. 45 3. Exclusion of parental income in the determination of the amount of 46 an award. a. In determining the amount of an award for students, the 47 income of the parents shall be excluded if the student has been emanci- 48 pated from his parents. 49 b. A student shall be considered emancipated if: 50 (i) The applicant is a student who was married on or before December 51 thirty-first of the calendar year prior to the beginning of the academic 52 year for which application is made or is an undergraduate student who 53 has reached the age of twenty-two on or before June thirtieth prior to 54 the academic year for which application is made and who, during the 55 calendar year next preceding the semester, quarter or term of attendanceA. 2821 3 1 for which application is made and at all times subsequent thereto up to 2 and including the entire period for which application is made: 3 (A) has not resided and will not reside with his or her parents for 4 more than six weeks; and 5 (B) has not and will not receive financial assistance or support 6 valued in excess of seven hundred fifty dollars from his or her parents; 7 and 8 (C) has not and will not be claimed as a dependent by either parent 9 for purposes of either federal or state income tax; or 10 (ii) The applicant has reached the age of thirty-five on or before 11 June thirtieth prior to the academic year for which application is made; 12 or 13 (iii) The applicant was enlisted in full time active military service 14 in the armed forces of the United States and has been honorably 15 discharged from such service, provided, however, that the applicant has 16 not and will not be claimed as a dependent by either parent for purposes 17 of either federal or state income tax. 18 c. In making a determination of where a student resides for the 19 purposes of clause (A) of subparagraph (i) of paragraph b of this subdi- 20 vision, the president may consider such criteria as he deems appropri- 21 ate. Residence by the student in an apartment, building, or other prem- 22 ises owned by a parent shall be considered residence with that parent, 23 for the purposes of this section, even if the student makes payment 24 therefor in the form of rent or other considerations. 25 d. In making a determination of whether a student has been claimed by 26 a parent as a dependent for purposes of either federal or state income 27 tax, the president may require the student to submit a copy of that 28 portion of the parents' federal income tax return which includes the 29 parents' signature and the list of claimed dependents. 30 4. Relinquishing of parental control. In determining the amount of an 31 award, the president may, in cases of unusual and exceptional family 32 circumstances warranting such action, recognize an existing condition 33 wherein parental control has in effect been relinquished by the parents 34 or others responsible for the applicant, and notwithstanding the 35 provisions of subdivision three of this section, the applicant has in 36 effect been emancipated. The criteria used in determining these cases of 37 unusual and exceptional family circumstances shall be established by the 38 president with the approval of the board of trustees and the director of 39 the division of the budget. 40 5. Income tax return not filed or not including income outside New 41 York state. If a person required to report income to the corporation did 42 not file an appropriate New York state income tax return, or if the 43 return did not include income outside New York state, such person shall 44 report to the corporation what his income would have been had his total 45 income been subject to New York state income tax and had such income tax 46 return been filed. 47 6. Statement of income. An applicant, the applicant's spouse, and the 48 applicant's parents, if their income is included in "income" for 49 purposes of this article, shall file annually with the corporation, in a 50 manner prescribed by the president, a statement of their income, signed 51 and affirmed as true under penalties of perjury. 52 7. Verification of financial report. The state tax commission shall, 53 upon request by the president, compare any statement filed with the 54 corporation pursuant to this article or any information derived there- 55 from with the state income tax returns filed by the persons making such 56 statement and shall report any discrepancies to the president.A. 2821 4 1 8. Confidentiality of financial reports. All statements filed with the 2 corporation and all reports made by the state tax commission pursuant to 3 this section shall be deemed confidential. 4 § 696-c. Eligibility. The affordable college education scholarship 5 program shall be available to those persons: 6 1. Who are (i) a citizen of the United States, or (ii) an alien 7 lawfully admitted for permanent residence in the United States, or (iii) 8 an individual of a class of refugees paroled by the attorney general of 9 the United States under his or her parole authority pertaining to the 10 admission of aliens to the United States; 11 2. Who have been either (i) a legal resident of the state for at least 12 one year immediately preceding the beginning of the semester, quarter or 13 term of attendance for which application for the affordable college 14 education scholarship program is made, or (ii) a legal resident of the 15 state and have been a legal resident during his or her last two semes- 16 ters of high school either prior to graduation, or prior to admission to 17 college. Notwithstanding any other provision of this article to the 18 contrary, the New York state residency eligibility requirement for this 19 program is waived for a member, or the spouse or dependent of a member, 20 of the armed forces of the United States on full-time active-duty and 21 stationed in this state; 22 3. Who have applied to such program and been accepted; 23 4. Who have graduated from a secondary school located within New York 24 state or have received a high school equivalency diploma from New York 25 state; 26 5. Who enroll in an approved program as defined in section six hundred 27 ninety-six of this article at a participating community college or 28 participating four-year college to complete a bachelor's degree in an 29 approved program; 30 6. Who remain in good academic standing; and 31 7. Whose income as defined in section six hundred ninety-six-b of this 32 article does not exceed two hundred thousand dollars or one hundred 33 fifty thousand dollars in cases where parental income is excluded as 34 provided in section six hundred ninety-six-b. 35 § 696-d. Duration. Students, who remain in good academic standing and 36 continue to meet the eligibility requirements of the affordable college 37 education scholarship program, will remain in said program for not more 38 than four academic years of full-time undergraduate study. 39 § 696-e. Cost of program. Each student accepted into this program will 40 be charged an amount of no more than two thousand five hundred dollars 41 per academic year. Included in this cost will be tuition, room and board 42 and a five hundred dollar per semester stipend for textbooks. The state 43 will provide the state university and the city university with the 44 remaining cost to educate these students. 45 § 696-f. Financial aid. Those students who are awarded an academic 46 scholarship from higher education services will see a reduction in their 47 cost of the program by an amount equal to their award. Any additional 48 financial aid, including from the tuition assistance program, the amount 49 of the award will go to the school and will diminish the state's share 50 of the student's cost of education. 51 § 696-g. Notification. 1. The superintendent of schools or other chief 52 school officer of each public school district and the chief school offi- 53 cer of nonpublic secondary schools shall take steps to inform students 54 and parents about the affordable college education scholarship program. 55 The higher education services corporation, in cooperation with the 56 commissioner, shall assist such efforts by making available to schoolA. 2821 5 1 districts, nonpublic secondary schools and students information relating 2 to such programs and aid. In addition, the commissioner, in cooperation 3 with the president and school officials shall also provide such other 4 information as is appropriate to encourage students to complete high 5 school and to assist students in preparing to attend college. 6 2. A report detailing the number of students in the program enrolled 7 in each program of study and the number of students participating at 8 each institution shall be generated by the participating community 9 college or four-year college and submitted to the division of budget 10 with a copy provided to each house of the legislature and the governor. 11 § 4. Subparagraph 4 of paragraph h of subdivision 2 of section 355 of 12 the education law is amended by adding a new clause (vii) to read as 13 follows: 14 (vii) Commencing with the two thousand nineteen--two thousand twenty 15 academic year and ending in the two thousand twenty-three--two thousand 16 twenty-four academic year the state university of New York board of 17 trustees shall be empowered to administer a program in which students 18 pay two thousand five hundred dollars per year for four years of educa- 19 tion as established pursuant to article fourteen-B of this chapter. 20 Participation in such program will be awarded solely on merit. The 21 remainder of the cost of this program will be paid for by the state. 22 § 5. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 7 of section 6206 of the education 23 law is amended by adding a new subparagraph (vi) to read as follows: 24 (vi) Commencing with the two thousand nineteen--two thousand twenty 25 academic year and ending in the two thousand twenty-three--two thousand 26 twenty-four academic year the city university of New York board of trus- 27 tees shall be empowered to administer a program in which students pay 28 two thousand five hundred dollars per year for four years of education 29 as established pursuant to article fourteen-B of this chapter. Partic- 30 ipation in such program will be awarded solely on merit. The remainder 31 of the cost of this program will be paid for by the state. 32 § 6. This act shall take effect immediately; provided that the amend- 33 ments to subparagraph 4 of paragraph h of subdivision 2 of section 355 34 of the education law made by section four of this act and paragraph (a) 35 of subdivision 7 of section 6206 of the education law made by section 36 five of this act shall be subject to the expiration and reversion of 37 such provisions and shall expire and be deemed repealed therewith.
