Bill Text: NY S00721 | 2015-2016 | General Assembly | Amended

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Bill Title: Requires the conducting of a study by the board of regents of feasible alternative methods of funding a college education at public four-year institutions of higher learning in New York state.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-01-13 - PRINT NUMBER 721A [S00721 Detail]

Download: New_York-2015-S00721-Amended.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                         721--A
                               2015-2016 Regular Sessions
                    IN SENATE
                                       (Prefiled)
                                     January 7, 2015
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by  Sens. RIVERA, PERKINS -- read twice and ordered printed,
          and when printed to be committed to  the  Committee  on  Education  --
          recommitted  to  the  Committee on Education in accordance with Senate
          Rule  6,  sec.  8  --  committee  discharged,  bill  amended,  ordered
          reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
        AN  ACT  to require the conducting of a study by the board of regents of
          feasible alternative methods of funding a college education at  public
          four-year institutions of higher learning in New York state
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section 1. The legislature recognizes  that  post-secondary  education
     2  has  expanded  opportunities for New Yorkers to qualify for high-quality
     3  jobs and entry into the middle class, providing clear benefits  to  this
     4  state's economy.
     5    Regrettably,  public  investment in higher education in this state has
     6  decreased over the past decade, resulting in  substantial  increases  in
     7  annual  tuition, fees and room and board imposed by public four-year and
     8  two-year institutions of higher education in the state. These  increases
     9  have  out-paced  increases  in  the  average family income in the state,
    10  forcing students to incur larger amounts of debt in order to  afford  to
    11  attend  college.  The  average  student loan debt of students graduating
    12  from public four-year institutions of higher education in New  York  now
    13  exceeds $25,000.
    14    Such high levels of student debt are damaging not only to the individ-
    15  ual  student's  ability  to succeed financially but also will have grave
    16  consequences for the future economy of this state.
    17    The legislature finds that it must halt the decrease  in  the  state's
    18  support  for public education and, over time, must increase its contrib-
    19  ution to the funding of higher education. It also finds that  the  state
    20  must  immediately seek another approach to financing the students' share
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD05853-02-6