What's happening
This bill creates a loan forgiveness program for New York child care professionals, offering up to $25,000 for qualified service.
Why it matters
Incentivizes retention in child care. By tying loan forgiveness to continued annual service, the program encourages child care professionals to stay in their positions for up to five years, directly addressing workforce shortages and high turnover rates in the sector.
Targets recruitment of qualified professionals. Only those who have completed higher education and are employed at licensed or registered child care facilities in New York are eligible, aiming to attract and retain well-trained staff in environments that meet state standards.
Offsets real education costs. The program covers not only tuition but also other required or reasonable student fees, offering a more comprehensive financial relief for child care workers whose salaries often do not reflect the cost of their education.
Allows for stacking with other aid. Recipients can apply for additional awards under other state programs, making it possible for child care professionals to maximize financial support and reduce overall debt burden, which could make the field more attractive as a long-term career.
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Forgive Child Care Student Loans
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- 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.
Forgive Child Care Student Loans
In Assembly Committee · Higher Education · Sponsor William Magnarelli
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
164
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE (Prefiled)
January 8, 2025
Introduced by Sen. RAMOS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Higher Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to creating the child care professionals loan forgiveness incentive program
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Section 605 of the education law is amended by adding a new subdivision 13 to read as follows:
13. New York state child care professionals loan forgiveness incentive program. a. Purpose. The president shall grant student loan forgiveness awards for the purpose of increasing the number of child care professionals employed in New York state. Such awards shall be made on a competitive basis to applicants who have graduated from an institution of higher education approved or registered by the regents.
b. Eligibility. (1) To be eligible to receive an award pursuant to this subdivision, an applicant must be a resident of New York state who has graduated from an institution of higher education and has an outstanding student loan debt.
(2) Such awards shall be made annually to eligible applicants who, prior to accepting such awards, engaged in twelve months of service as a child care professional in a child day care facility licensed or registered pursuant to the social services law or the administrative code of the city of New York and such awards shall not exceed an amount of twenty-five thousand dollars and shall be made to such applicants, pursuant to the following schedule:
(i) twenty percent to be awarded upon the completion of the first year;
(ii) twenty percent to be awarded upon the completion of the second year;
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00676-01-5
(iii) twenty percent to be awarded upon the completion of the third year;
(iv) twenty percent to be awarded upon the completion of the fourth year; and
(v) twenty percent to be awarded upon the completion of the fifth year.
(3) Recipients of such awards shall be eligible to apply for other awards established under this chapter.
c. Duration. Such awards shall be made annually, for no more than five years, to applicants who remain eligible under this subdivision and who are certified as such by the corporation.
d. Amount. The corporation shall grant such awards within the amounts appropriated for such purpose and based on the availability of funds in an amount not to exceed the total cost of the completion of such degree programs. Cost of completion of such degrees shall include: tuition at an institution of higher education approved or registered by the regents and other required or reasonable student fees.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the education law, in relation to creating the child care professionals loan forgiveness incentive program
Purpose
This bill seeks to create a Regents child care professional's loan forgiveness program to encourage individuals to work in the child care field.
Summary of provisions
Section 1: Amends 605 of the education law by adding a new subdivision 13 that creates the NYS child care professional's loan forgiveness incentive program. The program will award regents loan forgiveness awards to applicants who agree to engage in employment as child care professionals.
Section 2: effective date
Justification
Currently, licensed day care facilities are losing employees because they cannot afford a competitive salary to those individuals who are entering the field. Individuals graduating from college who would like to enter the daycare profession are discouraged from doing so because they will not earn a high enough salary so as to pay back the loans that they have incurred in college. This legislation would encourage quali- fied college graduates to seek a job in a licensed or registered day care facility by alleviating their concerns about paying back large loans.
Legislative history
2024: S9458 (Ramos) Referred to Higher Education / A186 (Magnarelli) referred to higher education
2023: S5722 (Kennedy) Referred to Higher Education
2021-22: S5068 (Kennedy) Referred to Higher Education
2019-20: S3478-A (Kennedy) Referred to Higher Education
2017-18: S6418 (Kennedy) Referred to Higher Education
Fiscal impact
To be determined.
Effective date
This act shall take effect immediately
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.