STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8568
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
November 7, 2025
___________
Introduced by Sen. ASHBY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to expanding eligibility
under the veterans tuition awards program to include recipients of the
award of the Purple Heart
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 669-a of the education law is
2 amended by adding a new paragraph g to read as follows:
3 g. "Purple Heart recipient" shall mean a recipient of the award of the
4 Purple Heart under 10 U.S.C. § 1129 or 10 U.S.C. § 1129-a.
5 § 2. Paragraph a of subdivision 2 of section 669-a of the education
6 law, as amended by chapter 75 of the laws of 2025, is amended to read as
7 follows:
8 a. Tuition awards are available for all Vietnam, Persian Gulf, Afghan-
9 istan and other eligible veterans and Purple Heart recipients, as
10 defined in subdivision one of this section, who are enrolled, pursuant
11 to paragraph a of subdivision four of section six hundred sixty-one of
12 this part, in approved undergraduate or graduate programs at degree
13 granting institutions or enrolled in approved vocational training
14 programs and who apply for a tuition assistance program award, for up to
15 the equivalent of eight full-time semesters, pursuant to section six
16 hundred sixty-seven of this subpart.
17 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD13658-01-5
