S 8356: Expands the New York opportunity promise scholarship to include all SUNY AND CUNY approved programs which award certain associate's degrees.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 8356 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE June 4, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. GOUNARDES -- 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 the New York opportunity promise scholarship to include all state university of New York or city university of New York approved programs which award certain associate's degrees The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 1 of section 6311 of the 2 education law, as added by section 1 of part F of chapter 56 of the laws 3 of 2025, is amended to read as follows: 4 (c) is matriculated at [a community college of the state university of 5 New York or the city university of New York, as defined in subdivision 6 two of section sixty-three hundred one of this article or subdivision 7 four of section sixty-two hundred two of this title, respectively,] any 8 state university of New York or city university of New York colleges, 9 universities, or community colleges in an approved program directly 10 leading to an associate's degree in a high-demand field; provided that 11 for the two thousand twenty-five -- two thousand twenty-six academic 12 year, such fields shall include but not be limited to advanced manufac- 13 turing, technology, cybersecurity, engineering, artificial intelligence, 14 nursing and allied health professions, green and renewable energy, and 15 pathways to teaching in shortage areas, provided further that such 16 fields may be updated annually thereafter by the department of labor no 17 later than one hundred eighty days prior to the first start date of the 18 fall term of such state university of New York or city university of New 19 York colleges, universities, or community colleges[,]; and provided 20 further that the eligibility of such approved program established in the 21 semester for which the applicant makes initial application shall contin- 22 ue; 23 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD13037-03-5