NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A508
SPONSOR: Anderson TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the education law, in relation to permitting tuition
assistance program awards for an aggregate six years of study
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
Relates to increasing the maximum years of study under the tuition
assistance program to an aggregate six years.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends subdivision 2 of section 667 of the education law to
increase the maximum years of study in the aggregate that a student is
permitted to receive tuition assistance program awards.
Section 2 states the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Currently, students are only eligible to receive tuition assistance
program (TAP) awards for four consecutive years. However, data from
SUNY and CUNY show that the average time to degree completion for a
bachelor's degree is more than five years.
Increasing the time students are permitted to receive TAP awards will
allow more students to afford to complete their degree. Additionally,
providing TAP awards for an aggregate of six (or more) years means that
students who need to take time off from school will not be penalized by
having that time count against them.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2024 - A1179
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
TBD
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the first of July next succeeding the date
on which it shall have become a law.
