A 3709: Modifies the criteria for granting tuition assistance program awards.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 3709 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN ASSEMBLY January 30, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. TANNOUSIS -- read once and referred to the Committee on Higher Education AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to TAP awards The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivisions 1 and 2 of section 667 of the education law, 2 subdivision 1 as amended by chapter 622 of the laws of 2008 and subdivi- 3 sion 2 as amended by chapter 376 of the laws of 2019, are amended to 4 read as follows: 5 1. Recipient qualifications. Tuition assistance program awards are 6 available for all students who are enrolled in approved programs and who 7 demonstrate the ability to complete such courses, in accordance with 8 standards established by the commissioner provided, however, that no 9 award shall be made unless tuition (exclusive of educational fees) and, 10 if applicable, the college fee levied by the state university of New 11 York pursuant to the April first, nineteen hundred sixty-four financing 12 agreements with the New York state dormitory authority charged for the 13 program in which the student is enrolled total at least two hundred 14 dollars a year, and provided further that, no award can exceed one 15 hundred percent of the amount of tuition charged. Nothing in this 16 section, section six hundred sixty-one of this part, or any other 17 provision of this chapter shall be read to exclude any graduate program 18 from classification by the commissioner as an approved program for the 19 purposes of this section. 20 2. Duration. No undergraduate shall be eligible for more than four 21 academic years of study, or five academic years if the program of study 22 normally requires five years. Students enrolled in a program of remedial 23 study, approved by the commissioner in an institution of higher educa- 24 tion and intended to culminate in a degree in undergraduate study shall, 25 for purposes of this section, be considered as enrolled in a program of 26 study normally requiring five years. An undergraduate student enrolled EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD03798-01-5 
 A. 3709 2 1 in an eligible two year program of study approved by the commissioner 2 shall be eligible for no more than three academic years of study. No 3 graduate student shall be eligible for more than four academic years of 4 study provided, however, that no graduate student shall be eligible for 5 more than one degree program at the master's, first professional or 6 doctorate level. No student shall be eligible for a total of more than 7 the equivalent of eight years of combined undergraduate and graduate 8 study. An undergraduate student enrolled in an approved two or four-year 9 program of study approved by the commissioner who must transfer to 10 another institution as a result of permanent college closure shall be 11 eligible for up to two additional semesters, or their equivalent, to the 12 extent credits necessary to complete [his or her] their program of study 13 were deemed non-transferable from the closed institution or were deemed 14 not applicable to such student's program of study by the new institu- 15 tion. Any semester, quarter, or term of attendance during which a 16 student receives any award under this article, after the effective date 17 of the former scholar incentive program and prior to academic year nine- 18 teen hundred eighty-nine--nineteen hundred ninety, shall be counted 19 toward the maximum term of eligibility for tuition assistance under this 20 section, except that any semester, quarter or term of attendance during 21 which a student received an award pursuant to section six hundred 22 sixty-six of this subpart shall be counted as one-half of a semester, 23 quarter or term, as the case may be, toward the maximum term of eligi- 24 bility under this section. Any semester, quarter or term of attendance 25 during which a student received an award pursuant to section six hundred 26 sixty-seven-a of this subpart shall not be counted toward the maximum 27 term of eligibility under this section. 28 § 2. Subitem (a) of item 1 of clause (A) of subparagraph (i) of para- 29 graph (a) of subdivision 3 of section 667 of the education law, as 30 amended by section 1 of part DD of chapter 56 of the laws of 2021, is 31 amended to read as follows: 32 (a) Five thousand dollars, except starting in two thousand fourteen- 33 two thousand fifteen such students shall receive five thousand one 34 hundred sixty-five dollars, and except starting in two thousand [twen- 35 ty-one--two thousand twenty-two and thereafter] twenty-four--two thou- 36 sand twenty-five such students shall receive five thousand six hundred 37 sixty-five dollars, except starting in two thousand twenty-five--two 38 thousand twenty-six and thereafter such students shall receive six thou- 39 sand sixty-eight dollars, except starting in two thousand twenty-six-- 40 two thousand twenty-seven and thereafter such students shall receive six 41 thousand four hundred seventy dollars, provided however that nothing 42 herein shall be construed as increasing any award made pursuant to this 43 section for an academic year prior to two thousand twenty-one--two thou- 44 sand twenty-two; or 45 § 3. Subparagraph (ii) of paragraph a of subdivision 3 of section 667 46 of the education law is amended by adding a new closing paragraph to 47 read as follows: 48 Provided, however, starting in two thousand twenty-three--two thousand 49 twenty-four and thereafter the amount of income shall be eighteen thou- 50 sand dollars or more, but no more than one hundred thousand dollars. 51 Provided, however, starting in two thousand twenty-five--two thousand 52 twenty-six and thereafter the amount of income shall be eighteen thou- 53 sand dollars or more, but no more than one hundred ten thousand dollars. 54 Provided, however, starting in two thousand twenty-six--two thousand 55 twenty-seven and thereafter the amount of income shall be eighteen thou- 
 A. 3709 3 1 sand dollars or more, but no more than one hundred twenty-five thousand 2 dollars. 3 § 4. Subparagraph (iii) of paragraph a of subdivision 3 of section 667 4 of the education law is amended by adding a new closing paragraph to 5 read as follows: 6 Provided, however, starting in two thousand twenty-five--two thousand 7 twenty-six and thereafter the amount of income shall be eighteen thou- 8 sand dollars or more, but no more than one hundred thousand dollars. 9 Provided, however, starting in two thousand twenty-six--two thousand 10 twenty-seven and thereafter the amount of income shall be eighteen thou- 11 sand dollars or more, but no more than one hundred ten thousand dollars. 12 Provided, however, starting in two thousand twenty-seven--two thousand 13 twenty-eight and thereafter the amount of income shall be eighteen thou- 14 sand dollars or more, but no more than one hundred twenty-five thousand 15 dollars. 16 § 5. Paragraph c of subdivision 3 of section 667 of the education law, 17 as relettered by section 2 of part J of chapter 58 of the laws of 2011, 18 is relettered paragraph d and new paragraph c is added to read as 19 follows: 20 c. Amount. The president shall make awards to graduate students in the 21 following amounts: 22 (i) for each year of graduate study, assistance shall be provided as 23 computed on the basis of the amount which is the lesser of the follow- 24 ing: (A) five hundred fifty dollars; or (B) ninety percent of the amount 25 of tuition (exclusive of education fees) charged, 26 (ii) except for students as noted in subparagraph (iii) of this para- 27 graph, the base amount as determined in subparagraph (i) of this para- 28 graph, shall be reduced in relation to income as follows: 29 Amount of income Schedule of reduction of 30 base amount 31 (A) Less than two thousand dollars None 32 (B) Two thousand dollars or more Seven and seven-tenths per 33 but not more than twenty centum of the excess over 34 thousand dollars two thousand dollars 35 (iii) For students who have been granted exclusion of parental income 36 and were single with no dependents for income tax purposes during the 37 tax year next preceding the academic year for which application is made, 38 the base amount as determined in subparagraph (i) of this paragraph, 39 shall be reduced in relation to income as follows: 40 Amount of income Schedule of reduction of base 41 amount 42 (A) Less than one thousand None 43 dollars 44 (B) One thousand dollars or Twenty-six per centum of the 45 more, but not more than excess over one thousand dollars 46 five thousand six 47 hundred sixty-six dollars 48 (iv) If the amount of reduction is not a whole dollar, it shall be 49 reduced to the next lowest whole dollar. 50 (v) The award shall be the net amount of the base amount determined 51 pursuant to subparagraph (ii) or (iii) of this paragraph but the award 52 shall not be reduced below seventy-five dollars. If the income exceeds 
 A. 3709 4 1 the maximum amount of income allowable under subparagraph (ii) or (iii) 2 of this paragraph, no award shall be made. 3 § 6. Paragraph a, the opening paragraph of subparagraph 1 of paragraph 4 b and paragraph d of subdivision 3 of section 663 of the education law, 5 paragraph a as amended by section 4, the opening paragraph of subpara- 6 graph 1 of paragraph b as amended by section 5 and paragraph d as 7 amended by section 6 of part J of chapter 58 of the laws of 2011, are 8 amended to read as follows: 9 a. In determining the amount of an award for graduate and undergradu- 10 ate students, the income of the parents shall be excluded if the student 11 has been emancipated from [his] their parents. 12 The applicant is a student who was married on or before December thir- 13 ty-first of the calendar year prior to the beginning of the academic 14 year for which application is made or is an undergraduate student who 15 has reached the age of twenty-two on or before June thirtieth prior to 16 the academic year for which application is made or is a graduate student 17 and who, during the calendar year next preceding the semester, quarter 18 or term of attendance for which application is made and at all times 19 subsequent thereto up to and including the entire period for which 20 application is made: 21 d. Any graduate or undergraduate student who was allowed to exclude 22 parental income pursuant to the provisions of former subdivision three 23 of section six hundred three of this chapter as they existed prior to 24 July first, nineteen hundred seventy-four may continue to exclude such 25 income for so long as [he] such graduate or undergraduate student 26 continues to comply with such provisions. 27 § 7. This act shall take effect immediately.