comscore
Is ‘Free’ College REALLY Free In New York?

Is ‘Free’ College REALLY Free In New York?

Hot97 Staff
08/30/2018 12:00 AM EDT
Photo credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Education is costly so when NY became the first state to offer tuition-free college for middle class families people thought this meant everyone has a fair chance of going to college.

Governor Andrew Cuomo came out with the plan last year and since then it hasn’t lived up to it’s promises. For eligible students, full time undergraduates could attend a NY State school tuition-free if they have a NY residency for at least a year and if their families earned no more than $100,000 per year. The only out-of-pocket expense would be the SUNY/CUNY fees and room and board.

A new report revealed that less than half of the students that applied for the free college program were rejected. The Washington Examiner reports,

“A new report by the Center for an Urban Future found that, of the 633,543 undergraduates enrolled in public colleges across New York State for the 2017-2018 academic year, just 3.2 percent, or roughly 20,000 students, actually received the Excelsior scholarship during the school year.”

Why did Cuomo’s program seem to fail? The article also says,

“According to Sara Goldrick-Rab, a professor of higher education at Temple University, Cuomo’s promise for free college came with too many barriers and strings attached, which prevents a significant number of New Yorkers from being able to take advantage of the program and qualify for financial aid.”