A 2354: Expands eligibility for the tuition assistance program by restoring eligibility to graduate students; makes optional semesters, quarters or terms eligible for awards.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 2354 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN ASSEMBLY January 16, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. EPSTEIN, SEAWRIGHT, CLARK, SIMON, COLTON, JACOB- SON, KELLES, CRUZ, ZINERMAN, GIBBS, RAMOS, SAYEGH, CUNNINGHAM, LEVEN- BERG, REYES, RAGA, FORREST -- read once and referred to the Committee on Higher Education AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to expanding eligibility for the tuition assistance program The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 2 of section 667 of the education law, as 2 amended by chapter 376 of the laws of 2019, is amended to read as 3 follows: 4 2. Duration. No undergraduate student shall be eligible for more than 5 four academic years of study, or five academic years if the program of 6 study normally requires five years. Students enrolled in a program of 7 remedial study, approved by the commissioner in an institution of higher 8 education and intended to culminate in a degree in undergraduate study 9 shall, for purposes of this section, be considered as enrolled in a 10 program of study normally requiring five years. An undergraduate student 11 enrolled in an eligible two year program of study approved by the 12 commissioner shall be eligible for no more than three academic years of 13 study. An undergraduate student enrolled in an approved two or four-year 14 program of study approved by the commissioner who must transfer to 15 another institution as a result of permanent college closure shall be 16 eligible for up to two additional semesters, or their equivalent, to the 17 extent credits necessary to complete [his or her] such undergraduate 18 student's program of study were deemed non-transferable from the closed 19 institution or were deemed not applicable to such student's program of 20 study by the new institution. No graduate student shall be eligible for 21 more than four academic years of study provided, however, that no grad- 22 uate student shall be eligible for more than one degree program at the 23 master's, first professional or doctorate level. No student shall be EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD04328-01-5 
 A. 2354 2 1 eligible for a total of more than the equivalent of eight years of 2 combined undergraduate and graduate study. Any semester, quarter, or 3 term of attendance during which a student receives any award under this 4 article, after the effective date of the former scholar incentive 5 program and prior to academic year nineteen hundred eighty-nine--nine- 6 teen hundred ninety, shall be counted toward the maximum term of eligi- 7 bility for tuition assistance under this section, except that any semes- 8 ter, quarter or term of attendance during which a student received an 9 award pursuant to section six hundred sixty-six of this subpart shall be 10 counted as one-half of a semester, quarter or term, as the case may be, 11 toward the maximum term of eligibility under this section. Any semester, 12 quarter or term of attendance during which a student received an award 13 pursuant to section six hundred sixty-seven-a of this subpart shall not 14 be counted toward the maximum term of eligibility under this section. 15 For the purposes of this section, an academic year shall include any 16 optional academic semester, quarter or term and any award made for such 17 optional academic semester, quarter or term shall not reduce the maximum 18 term of eligibility under this section. 19 § 2. Paragraph c of subdivision 3 of section 667 of the education law, 20 as relettered by section 2 of part J of chapter 58 of the laws of 2011, 21 is relettered paragraph d and a new paragraph c is added to read as 22 follows: 23 c. Amount. The president shall make awards to graduate students in the 24 following amounts: 25 (i) For each year of graduate study, assistance shall be provided as 26 computed on the basis of the amount which is the lesser of the follow- 27 ing: 28 (A) Five hundred fifty dollars; or 29 (B) One hundred percent of the amount of tuition (exclusive of educa- 30 tional fees). 31 (ii) Except for students as noted in subparagraph (iii) of this para- 32 graph, the base amount as determined in subparagraph (i) of this para- 33 graph, shall be reduced in relation to income as follows: 34 Amount of income Schedule of reduction 35 of base amount 36 (A) Less than two thousand None 37 dollars 38 (B) Two thousand dollars or Seven and seven-tenths per centum 39 more, but not more than of the excess over two thousand 40 twenty thousand dollars dollars 41 (iii) For students who have been granted exclusion of parental income 42 and were single with no dependent for income tax purposes during the tax 43 year next preceding the academic year for which application is made, the 44 base amount as determined in subparagraph (i) of this paragraph, shall 45 be reduced in relation to income as follows: 46 Amount of income Schedule of reduction 47 of base amount 48 (A) Less than one thousand None 49 dollars 50 (B) One thousand dollars or Twenty-six per centum of the 51 more, but not more than excess over one thousand dollars 52 five thousand six hundred 53 sixty-six dollars 
 A. 2354 3 1 (iv) If the amount of reduction is not a whole dollar, it shall be 2 reduced to the next lowest whole dollar. 3 (v) The award shall be the net amount of the base amount determined 4 pursuant to subparagraph (ii) or (iii) of this paragraph but the award 5 shall not be reduced below seventy-five dollars. If the income exceeds 6 the maximum amount of income allowable under subparagraph (ii) or (iii) 7 of this paragraph, no award shall be made. 8 § 3. This act shall take effect on the first of July next succeeding 9 the date on which it shall have become a law.