MCC Daily Tribune

SUNY Chancellor King Launches Additional Programs to Assist with Housing, Food, and Transportation Insecurity

Efforts Build on SUNY’s Statewide Investments to Expand Resources for Students; Ten Campuses Selected to Participate

Albany, NY – State University of New York Chancellor John B. King Jr. today announced basic needs programs to assist students further with housing, food, and transportation support. The initiatives will take place across 18 SUNY campuses during the Spring 2026 semester and will be evaluated for further expansion. Under the leadership of the SUNY Board of Trustees and Chancellor King, SUNY has ramped up support for students over the past three years by providing sustainable ongoing investments in mental health and wellness services, addressing food insecurity, improving transportation access, and requiring all campuses to identify a homeless liaison with clearly defined responsibilities to identify and support students who are unhoused or at risk of housing insecurity.

“At SUNY we are committed to equipping our students with all the resources that they need to succeed in their studies and achieve their dreams,” said SUNY Chancellor King. “This means providing affordable academic excellence, while also ensuring that our students have access to essential support such as food, housing, and transportation. I thank Governor Kathy Hochul and the State Legislature for their continued support in expanding the resources that help our students thrive.”

SUNY Trustee Eunice A. Lewin and SUNY Trustee Luca O. Rallis, Co-Chairs of the Student Life Committee, said, “For students to flourish and achieve academic excellence, they need support both inside and outside of the classroom. That is why we are committed to advancing initiatives that ensure our students receive the resources they deserve. Thanks to the support of Governor Hochul and the State Legislature, we are able to do more every year to address these barriers and increase access to essential resources.”

State Senate Higher Education Committee Chair Toby Ann Stavisky said, “Students cannot focus on learning if they are worried about where they will sleep, when they will eat, or how they will get to class. These expanded SUNY programs recognize that housing, food, and transportation are essential to student success. By meeting students on their campus and removing these barriers, we are giving more New Yorkers a real chance to stay enrolled, complete their degrees, and build a stable future.”

Increasing Food Lockers

Every SUNY Campus has a food pantry or stigma-free food access available to all students, and SUNY dedicates $1 million in ongoing operating expenses each year to support initiatives to address food insecurity on all State-operated campuses and, beginning this academic year, $550,000 in assistance for SUNY community college food pantries. Food lockers can supplement the work of food pantries by providing students with the ability to pick up fresh refrigerated food after-hours. Last year, SUNY began its food locker program with Finger Lakes Community College, Monroe Community College, SUNY Plattsburgh, SUNY Polytechnic Institute, and SUNY Potsdam. This year, food lockers will be added at SUNY Erie and Westchester Community College.

Continuing to Address Housing Insecurity

SUNY homeless liaisons have been in place on each campus since 2023 to ensure students experiencing homelessness receive the academic, financial, and wraparound support they need to succeed and thrive. SUNY is partnering with national experts at SchoolHouse Connection to provide individualized technical assistance for how campuses can meet the needs of students facing housing insecurity.

This year, SUNY’s partnership with SchoolHouse Connection will include intensive support for campuses to implement projects to address housing insecurity:

SUNY Fredonia is developing new, student-centered approaches to address housing insecurity and related needs. The campus is working to address gap housing, intake processes, and coordination with community agencies to support students experiencing homelessness or housing instability.
SUNY Old Westbury is focusing on gap housing needs during the winter and summer sessions, establishing early identification and case management procedures, and providing additional supports for the Office of Residential Life to fulfill these needs on an ongoing basis.
SUNY Oswego has updated its housing policy so students can apply to live on campus throughout the academic year without additional charges. In addition, the campus will provide housing and dining scholarships during the summer break to support students experiencing housing insecurity. SUNY Oswego will develop further strategies to address potential gaps in services and improve critical student services and support.

Filling Transportation Gaps

Five SUNY campuses will receive a SUNY grant of up to $50,000 to develop, improve, and implement plans to increase transportation access to all students, decreasing the number of students reporting transportation as a barrier to academic success. Those campuses include: Corning Community College, Dutchess Community College, SUNY Orange, SUNY Potsdam, and Purchase College. The plans focus on expanding access to public transportation, primarily in partnership with local governments and transit agencies.

Last year, five SUNY campuses – Herkimer Community College, Jamestown Community College, SUNY Cortland, SUNY Oneonta, and SUNY Old Westbury – were early participants in this program. They are collaborating with local leaders on county transportation master plans to increase service to areas where students live, purchasing bus trackers, and increasing communication to resolve issues and enhance services for students.

About the State University of New York

The State University of New York is the largest comprehensive system of higher education in the United States, and more than 95 percent of all New Yorkers live within 30 miles of any one of SUNY’s 64 colleges and universities. Across the system, SUNY has four academic health centers, five hospitals, four medical schools, two dental schools, a law school, the country’s oldest school of maritime, the state's only college of optometry, 12 Educational Opportunity Centers, over 30 ATTAIN digital literacy labs, and manages one US Department of Energy National Laboratory. In total, SUNY serves about 1.7 million students across its portfolio of credit- and non-credit-bearing courses and programs, continuing education, and community outreach programs. SUNY oversees nearly a quarter of academic research in New York. Research expenditures system-wide are nearly $1.5 billion in fiscal year 2025, including significant contributions from students and faculty. There are more than three million SUNY alumni worldwide, and one in three New Yorkers with a college degree is a SUNY alum. To learn more about how SUNY creates opportunities, visit SUNY's website (suny.edu).

Patrick Morris
Community Relations
01/05/2026