Enacts provisions relating to tuition assistance program awards for certain students who have been granted an exclusion of parental income

Section two of the bill amends subparagraph (iii) of paragraph a of subdivision 3 of section 667 of the education law to provide that undergraduate independent TAP award amounts include those students who have been granted an exclusion of parental income solely due to emancipation.

Section three amends subparagraph (iii) of paragraph b of subdivision 3 of section 667 of the education law to state that two-year business school independent TAP award amounts include those students who have been granted an exclusion of parental income solely due to emancipation.

Section four of the bill amends subparagraph (iii) of paragraph c of subdivision 3 of section 667 of the education law to provide that graduate school TAP award amounts include those students who have been granted an exclusion of parental income solely due to emancipation.

Section five is the effective date.

Justification

Under current law, "independent students" are either students who have been determined to be emancipated or students whose parents have relinquished parental control. In order to determine whether parental control has been relinquished, the president of the higher education service corporation and the director of the division of budget establish criteria to recognize unusual and exceptional family circumstances in which parents no longer provide care or financial support to students under age twenty-two. Currently this criteria includes the following circumstances: parents are deceased; parents are declared incompetent by judicial action or certified as having a total or permanent disability; the student is a ward of the court; the student receives public assistance (other than food stamps, aid as a dependent child or unemployment); and the student is rendered financially independent due to the involuntary dissolution of the family.

For purposes of TAP, independent students are subject to a different income schedule than dependent students which routinely allows them to become eligible for less TAP money. Where parental control has been relinquished, students, through no fault of their own, face difficult circumstances which may include removal from the home due to neglect or abuse, entering foster care, and/or becoming a ward of the court. It seems only fair to place these students on a schedule that would take into account their exceptional family circumstances and convey more funds.

Prior legislative history

2008 - A.9692 Passed the Assembly

Fiscal implications for state and local governments

A fiscal note dated 3/18/2010 prepared by examiner Steve Hallock states: The 2010-11 Executive Budget includes an Article VII proposal which would increase maximum TAP awards for this same group of individuals from $3,025 to $5,000 while increasing the income range used to determine the applicant's TAP award to $25,000. The estimated cost of these provisions is $3.87 million in 2010-11 and $5.529 million annually thereafter.

Enactment of this bill will produce an incremental cost of $16,800 in addition to the Executive Budget proposal in 2010-11. When fully annualized, this bill would result in an increased cost of $24,000 above the annualized value of the 2010-11 Executive Budget proposal.

Effective date

Immediately.