News Release
Feb 8, 2007
Increasing Funding for Student Aid, Max TAP $6,000 are Top Legislative Priorities for Independent Sector
The Albany-based Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities (CICU) today presented to the New York State Senate’s and Assembly’s fiscal committees its legislative priorities for SFY 2007-08 on behalf of New York’s 100-plus private, not-for-profit campuses.
In testifying at the joint fiscal hearings on higher education, CICU president Abe Lackman called for increased funding for state student aid programs. CICU’s proposals include raising the state’s Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) maximum award to $6,000 and boosting funds for the Higher Education Opportunity and Liberty Partnerships programs. (See attached presentation and two-page overview of CICU’s TAP proposal.)
“The Executive Budget provides a solid platform from which we can build our higher education programs. For the first time in five years, the Budget does not drastically cut student aid programs. Let’s leverage TAP to provide greater higher education access for all of New York’s students. It’s been seven years since TAP for undergraduate, dependent students has gone up; 17 years in the case of independent students, and two decades since any improvement in TAP for graduate students. We have failed to keep pace with an entire generation,” said CICU president Abe Lackman.
Since 1974, the Tuition Assistance Program has provided grants to New Yorkers studying full time as undergraduates at a college or university in the state. In total, 335,000 low- and moderate-income students rely on TAP, including 95,000 in the Independent Sector.
While advancing a proposal to maximize TAP, CICU opposes the 2007-08 Executive Budget’s $4.2 million cut in the Direct Institutional “Bundy” Aid program. Independent colleges and universities use Direct Aid to promote excellence and provide opportunity and adequate financial aid to their students. Direct Aid is based on degree productivity; Independent Sector campuses receive funding only once a student has graduated.
“In the decade ahead, I believe that our economic competitiveness — here in New York and also at the national level — depends significantly upon increasing the number of college graduates,” said Lackman.
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The Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities (CICU) represents the chief executives of New York's 100+ independent (private, not-for-profit) colleges and universities on issues of public policy. Member colleges compose the largest private sector of higher education in the world and confer most of the bachelor's degrees (56%), master's degrees (72%), and doctoral and first-professional degrees (80%) earned in New York State.
CICU member campuses enroll more than 466,000 students, including nearly 300,000 New York State residents. One in three (27%) New Yorkers enrolled full time at independent colleges and universities in the state comes from a family earning less than $40,000 annually. And most (52%) African-American and Latino students who earn their bachelor's and graduate degrees in New York State are Independent Sector alumni.