Improving Access to Higher Education

Problem: Social and economic barriers still prevent low- and moderate-income students from attending college and earning a degree.

The SUNY and CUNY university systems, until the 1990s, were access-oriented, designed to give lower income students an opportunity at post-secondary education. But as the institution increasingly refashions its image to compete with other state’s university systems, it has been closing its doors on New York’s next generation of talent, forsaking diversity and betraying its intended mission. This is creating a false choice: Excellent education opportunities should be open to all who seek them and are willing to apply academic seriousness to the efforts.

The financial prospects confronting the state’s would-be college goers are dismal. With ever-increasing tuition hikes at both CUNY and SUNY schools, demand for tuition assistance is at an all time high. These tuition increases, combined with the expectation that students carry immense debt for college loans, have become mounting obstacles facing New York’s working-class students and are often prohibitive to earning a degree from a City or State University.

The facts:

• Full-time tuition at CUNY or SUNY averages $4000-$4350 per year.
• New Yorkers attending CUNY and SUNY schools borrow an average of $3,646 in loans per year to help fund their college education.
• According to the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, New York’s poorest families spend nearly half of their family incomes – one of the highest percentages in the United States – to send dependents to even the lowest priced schools.
• The retention rate at CUNY and SUNY schools is also low, in many cases due to students’ lack of ability to pay tuition.

Solution: Reduce prohibitive tuition costs as a means of increasing access to higher public education. There are several ways to reduce tuition costs for students, ranging from an increase in outright tuition assistance, grant programs, or tax credit refunds.

Governor Spitzer currently has formed a commission on higher education to help determine what the state should be doing to assist students and improve the colleges. The commission is expected to release their report in January 2008. We eagerly await their recommendations for increasing access to the city’s and state’s colleges.

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