Joseph Spector

Albany Bureau Chief

ALBANY - Students who receive free SUNY tuition will be able to apply for a waiver to try to keep the scholarship if they move to another state for work, state regulations adopted Thursday said.

The regulations approved by the state Higher Education Services Corporation Board of Trustees seemed to address several of the complaints about the stringency of the law approved last month that will let income-eligible students get free SUNY tuition during their two or four years in college.

In particular, the regulations carve out provisions that would let students who recently graduated from SUNY apply for a hardship waiver that could let them keep the free tuition. It also loosens the provisions that requires good grades and 30 credits a year to get into the program.

One of the criticisms of the law was students who graduate from SUNY and left the state for a job would have to forego the free tuition they received. The state would convert it back to a loan if a graduate left the state before four years or the length of their college time.

The corporation said it would allow students to demonstrate "extreme hardship as a result of a disability, labor market conditions, or other such circumstances" to either postpone or suspend the repayment — or prorate it based on the time a student complied with the residency and employment requirements.

"A college education has become a necessity, and with the Excelsior Scholarship, all New Yorkers, no matter where they come from or how much money their families make, will have access to a higher education," Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who proposed the measure in January and got it approved by the Legislature last month, said in a statement.

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The "Excelsior Scholarship" will start this fall for students whose household income is less than $100,000 a year. It will grow to $110,000 in fall 2018 and $125,000 by fall 2019.

SUNY tuition is currently $6,470 a year and on average $4,366 at community colleges.

Applications to apply for the free tuition are expected to be released next month.

Cuomo introduced the proposal with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, the former presidential candidate, as a way to tap into the push for affordable college.

Yet the residency requirement and other provisions that were included in the final deal with the Legislature drew concerns.

Advocates said the residency requirement would help the decline in the state's population, particularly upstate, but opponents said it was unfair to limit students' opportunities after they graduate — particularly if they live in New York and work in neighboring states like New Jersey, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. SUNY officials said 85 percent of their students stay in New York after they graduate anyway.

The corporation, though, took the concerns into account in its regulations, such as loosening the requirements on how many credits students need to remain eligible.

The regulations Thursday also included letting students use college credit received in high school toward the full-time attendance requirement of 30 credits per year. Also, credits previously accrued while going to college part-time could also be applied to the credit requirement, the regulations said.

Students could apply for a waiver if they have to leave college for the military, and students could also make up six or less credits in the following year to meet the credit requirement.

Disabled students could also go to SUNY part-time and receive a pro-rated tuition grant.

For more information about the Excelsior Scholarship, visit: https://www.hesc.ny.gov/pay-for-college/financial-aid/types-of-financial-aid/nys-grants-scholarships-awards/the-excelsior-scholarship.html