Hannon Announces College Tuition Relief Proposal

Senator Kemp Hannon (R-Garden City) announced a proposal for college tuition relief for middle income families. The proposal would provide state aid to help pay for college costs and ensure income-eligible families would not contribute more than 10% of their net taxable income toward tuition and fees.

Senator Hannon said, "Bogging families down with massive amounts of debt has an adverse affect on their ability to provide for their children. Often, it causes parents to live paycheck-to-paycheck and hope nothing goes wrong with their health, their home or their car."

Middle income residents receive little, if any, state and federal college aid. As college costs continue to rise, more students and families are being forced to assume huge amounts of debt. Cur-rently, students graduating from a New York State college will leave with approximately $18,000 of student loan debt for four years of undergraduate study. Their debt will increase if they choose to continue their education at the graduate level.

"For students who take on tuition debt, it makes it more difficult for them to get a mortgage or car loan at a reasonable interest rate," added Senator Hannon. "We are not doing young people any favors by starting them out thousands of dollars in debt."

This proposal would cap a family's contribution for tuition and fees at 10% of their net taxable income if that annual income is less than $150,000. Students would be able to use this benefit at any college which agrees to limit annual tuition increases.

This program would provide a maximum of $12,500 in financial assistance. The state aid would be granted prior to the family's contribution, but after federal aid and other state aid programs were credited to a student's account.

While for the past 33 years, New York State's Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) has helped make a college education more accessible, many hardworking New Yorkers do not meet the eligibility guidelines. This proposal would supplement and complement TAP to make a college education more affordable for middle income families.

Senator Kenneth LaValle (R-Port Jefferson), the sponsor of this proposal, will hold hearings on the topic on January 3 at 10:30 a.m. at Dowling College (Ballroom, Fortunoff Hall - Rudolph Campus) and on January 14 in Albany (Legislative Office Building, Hearing Room A).