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MCC Daily Tribune Archive

President's Wednesday Message


As we begin the spring semester, we also kick into high gear for budget advocacy. Governor Cuomo released his Executive Budget earlier this month. It held out both excitement in the proposal to create the Excelsior Scholarships (aka “free tuition”) and disappointment that the budget did not include any increase in funding for community colleges. Let’s start with the latter.

In the Executive Budget, community colleges maintained flat funding at $2,697/full-time equivalent (FTE) student. Because of enrollment decreases, 27 of 30 SUNY community colleges—including MCC--would see a reduction in funding at this base aid rate. This could not come at a worse time. Across the system, we see the needs of our students growing. They are facing growing academic, health, financial, and personal challenges. To help them succeed, we are providing more advising, more counseling, and more services. To bring them level with academic expectations, our faculty are redesigning and rethinking curriculum and programs. SUNY recognizes that the Executive Budget proposal is denying new funding to community colleges just when our students need it most.

There is also a growing understanding that the state’s longstanding FTE-funding model is outdated. It does not account for the level of services our students need, and importantly, it does not align with the high cost of high demand programs in STEM and career and technical education. More of our enrollment is in our highest cost programs. These degree pathways create great careers for our students and a strong workforce pipeline for our region. We want to continue this critical aspect of our mission. As New York state and Governor Cuomo look to our colleges to support economic development and expand educational opportunity, however, we must find a budget model that supports our important and transformational work.

The Governor’s belief in the power of our colleges was made clear in his announcement of the Excelsior Scholarships: the state’s public colleges and universities are the path to a brighter future for New York and for New Yorkers. His budget provided more detail on this bold plan for free tuition. The Excelsior Scholarship is proposed as:
  • a last dollar tuition scholarship in which state funds flow only after existing federal and state grants (like TAP or Pell), and any scholarships (private or institutional) are awarded;
  • a full-time scholarship provided to students who register for and complete 15 credit hours in the fall and spring and enroll continuously through degree completion (2 or 4 years).
  • an award limited to the student’s first associate and first bachelor’s degrees.
  • a fixed-cost scholarship limited to the institution’s 2015-2016 tuition level. For example, MCC's current tuition is $4100. This would be MCC’s Excelsior Scholarship tuition in perpetuity; MCC could not increase tuition for these students unless changed through legislative action.

It is also worth noting that for the first time, the Governor has inserted language throughout the Executive Budget (beyond education) that provides authority to the State Director of the Budget to reduce any enacted funding in case federal receipts fall below New York’s financial plan expectations.

The Executive Budget sets the starting line for the state budget process. Where the finish line will be is an open question, and through SUNY's advocacy and our own, we will work to improve the outlook for MCC, all community colleges, and the students we serve. In the days, weeks, and months ahead, we will renew our advocacy for increased base aid and update you about developments and chances to become involved. Should you have questions, please share them in the comments on the blog or reach out to Clayton Jones, acting governmental relations liaison.

Anne M. Kress
Office of the President
01/25/2017