Caps total of fees and charges imposed upon students of the state university of New York to no more than fifteen percent of total tuition fee

Title of bill

An act to amend the education law, in relation to fees of students of the state university of New York

Purpose or general idea of bill

This bill is designed to reduce and freeze the amount of fees imposed on any student of the State University of New York to fifteen percent of tuition after a phase-out period of three years.

Summary of specific provisions

Section 1. S 355 paragraph h of subdivision 2 of the education law is amended by adding a new subparagraph 10 to include the following:

* the aggregate total of all fees shall not exceed fifteen percent of tuition

* for those campuses whose fees are more than fifteen percent on the effective date of this law, must reduce fees to twenty-five percent of tuition one year after the effective date, twenty percent the year following, and conform to fifteen percent the following year * fees shall exclude the student activity fee, the Empire State College's one-time assessment fee, the parking fee and fines, fees, deposits and charges for violation of institutional relations, late registrations, and damage and breakage

Justification

Currently a New York State resident's tuition at the State University of New York is $4,660, and an out-of-state resident's tuition is $11,740. In addition the university imposes fees on a campus by campus basis. For many colleges these fees are contained to a reasonable level, providing advanced services with limited student financial burden. Unfortunately, many campuses have increased fees beyond a reasonable limit. Fees can range from $315 to $1,607 equaling up to 34% for an in-state resident tuition or 10% for an out-of-state resident tuition. The Tuition Assistance Program does not cover this unnecessary burden.

This bill will gradually reduce and limit the fees imposed on students to fifteen percent of tuition. This amount equals to $699.00 for an instate resident and $1,761.00 for an out-of-state resident Colleges who have historically higher fees will have the opportunity to phase down their fees over a three-year period. This time span will ensure that students' programs will not be drastically affected. In addition, since this bill only targets those colleges with unreasonable fees, only approximately nine colleges will need to reduce their fees over the course of three years. Other colleges will merely need to maintain their fee structure. The passage of this bill will relieve students of this unnecessary and unreasonable financial burden that may have restricted their access to higher education.

Prior legislative history

2001 - A.2357 - Ways & Means, 2004 - A.3623 Referred to Higher Education, 2006 - A.9269 Referred to Higher Education. 2007-08: A.4216 Referred to Higher Education.

Fiscal implications

To be determined.

Effective date

This act shall take effect on the first of July next succeeding the date on which it shall have become a law and shall apply provided herein to semesters and quarters which occur after the effective date of this act.