Joe.My.God. LGBT News
The New York Times reports:
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced a plan Tuesday morning to offer free tuition at state colleges to hundreds of thousands of middle- and low-income New Yorkers, seizing on a popular liberal talking point on the eve of national Republican ascension.
Under the governor’s plan, any college student who has been accepted to a state or city university in New York — including two-year community colleges — will be eligible provided they or their family earn $125,000 or less annually.
Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat, unveiled his proposal at an event at LaGuardia Community College in Queens alongside Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who had sought their party’s presidential nomination with a similar stance last year, arguing that student debt was crippling the prospects of generations of young Americans.
Called the Excelsior Scholarship, the funds are envisioned as a way to complete tuition payments by supplementing existing state and federal loan and grant programs.
Mr. Cuomo hopes for a quick start for his idea, with a three-year rollout beginning in the fall, though it will require legislative approval, a potential snag when the governor and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have been at odds over a pay raise and other issues.
We must make public colleges and universities tuition free for working families. That is what @NYGovCuomo is fighting for in New York.
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) January 3, 2017
We’re making college tuition-free for middle-class families.My proposal offers free tuition at SUNY, CUNY schools—every kid deserves a shot. pic.twitter.com/doYc7IoyTe
— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) January 3, 2017