What's happening
This bill expands eligibility for New York's Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) to include graduate students and graduate programs.
Why it matters
Increases access to graduate education by providing financial support. By making graduate students eligible for TAP, the bill could make advanced degrees more attainable for New Yorkers who might otherwise be unable to afford them.
Addresses workforce and economic needs. Expanding TAP to graduate programs helps New York develop a more highly educated workforce, which can drive innovation and fill critical roles in fields like healthcare, education, and technology.
Limits on total aid and degree programs clarify expectations. The bill sets clear boundaries—no more than four years of TAP for graduate study and a combined maximum of eight years for both undergraduate and graduate assistance—ensuring resources are distributed fairly and encouraging timely completion.
Modernizes eligibility rules for changing student demographics. By updating language around parental income and student independence for both undergraduates and graduates, the bill reflects the realities of older, financially independent, or non-traditional students pursuing advanced degrees.
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Headline styles
Expand Tuition Aid to Graduates
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
1 Co-sponsor
History
- Held for consideration in higher education
- Referred to higher education
- Referred to higher education
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Expand Tuition Aid to Graduates
In Senate Committee · Higher Education · Sponsor Andrew J. Lanza
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
5912
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 20, 2019
Introduced by M. of A. MALLIOTAKIS -- read once and referred to the Committee on Higher Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to tuition assistance program awards
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Paragraph a of subdivision 3 of section 663 of the education law, as amended by section 4 of part J of chapter 58 of the laws of 2011, is amended to read as follows:
a. In determining the amount of an award for graduate and undergraduate students, the income of the parents shall be excluded if the student has been emancipated from his parents.
§ 2. The opening paragraph of subparagraph 1 of paragraph b of subdivision 3 of section 663 of the education law, as amended by section 5 of part J of chapter 58 of the laws of 2011, is amended to read as follows:
The applicant is a student who was married on or before December thirty-first of the calendar year prior to the beginning of the academic year for which application is made or is an undergraduate student who has reached the age of twenty-two on or before June thirtieth prior to the academic year for which application is made or is a graduate student and who, during the calendar year next preceding the semester, quarter or term of attendance for which application is made and at all times subsequent thereto up to and including the entire period for which application is made:
§ 3. Paragraph d of subdivision 3 of section 663 of the education law, as amended by section 6 of part J of chapter 58 of the laws of 2011, is amended to read as follows:
d. Any graduate or undergraduate student who was allowed to exclude parental income pursuant to the provisions of former subdivision three of section six hundred three of this chapter as they existed prior to
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD09940-01-9
A. 5912 2
July first, nineteen hundred seventy-four may continue to exclude such income for so long as he continues to comply with such provisions.
§ 4. Subdivisions 1 and 2 of section 667 of the education law, subdivision 1 as amended by chapter 622 of the laws of 2008 and subdivision 2 as amended by chapter 400 of the laws of 2018, are amended to read as follows:
1. Recipient qualifications. Tuition assistance program awards are available for all students who are enrolled in approved programs and who demonstrate the ability to complete such courses, in accordance with standards established by the commissioner provided, however, that no award shall be made unless tuition (exclusive of educational fees) and, if applicable, the college fee levied by the state university of New York pursuant to the April first, nineteen hundred sixty-four financing agreements with the New York state dormitory authority charged for the program in which the student is enrolled total at least two hundred dollars a year, and provided further that, no award can exceed one hundred percent of the amount of tuition charged. Nothing in this section, section six hundred sixty-one of this part, or any other provision of this chapter shall be read to exclude any graduate program from classification by the commissioner as an approved program for the purposes of this section.
2. Duration. No undergraduate shall be eligible for more than four academic years of study, or five academic years if the program of study normally requires five years. Students enrolled in a program of remedial study, approved by the commissioner in an institution of higher education and intended to culminate in a degree in undergraduate study shall, for purposes of this section, be considered as enrolled in a program of study normally requiring five years. An undergraduate student enrolled in an eligible two year program of study approved by the commissioner shall be eligible for no more than three academic years of study. An undergraduate student enrolled in an approved two or four-year program of study approved by the commissioner who must transfer to another institution as a result of permanent college closure shall be eligible for two additional semesters, or their equivalent, as determined by the commissioner, in order to complete his or her program. No graduate student shall be eligible for more than four academic years of study provided, however, that no graduate student shall be eligible for more than one degree program at the master's, first professional or doctorate level. No student shall be eligible for a total of more than the equivalent of eight years of combined undergraduate and graduate study. Any semester, quarter, or term of attendance during which a student receives any award under this article, after the effective date of the former scholar incentive program and prior to academic year nineteen hundred eighty-nine--nineteen hundred ninety, shall be counted toward the maximum term of eligibility for tuition assistance under this section, except that any semester, quarter or term of attendance during which a student received an award pursuant to section six hundred sixty-six of this subpart shall be counted as one-half of a semester, quarter or term, as the case may be, toward the maximum term of eligibility under this section. Any semester, quarter or term of attendance during which a student received an award pursuant to section six hundred sixty-seven-a of this subpart shall not be counted toward the maximum term of eligibility under this section.
§ 5. This act shall take effect immediately.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.