ALBANY — Financial aid officers from all 64 State University of New York campuses have been told not to answer media questions about the Excelsior Scholarship and instead refer to a prepared statement put out by Chancellor Kristina Johnson following a Times Union story noting the confusion that exists about the recently implemented program.

“That is all we are supposed to say,” said one SUNY official who was on the conference call that came in the wake of complaints about the Excelsior Scholarship. The complaints were brought up during a meeting of the state’s Higher Education Services Corp., which administers the Excelsior Scholarship.

During that meeting on Wednesday, a financial aid officer from Erie County Community College, speaking on behalf of a statewide association of such officials, complained that they were having difficulty getting answers from HESC about details of the scholarship. The questions have arisen as they struggle to determine whether students qualify for the scholarship.

“We have gone months without formal written guidance,” said the financial aid officer, Sarah Buell. “We are essentially, in our 64 campuses, establishing 64 different versions of this program,” she added.

Her remarks appeared to take HESC officials and trustees, as well as representatives of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office, by surprise. It was unclear if Buell knew that reporters from two news outlets, the Times Union and Politico NY, were at the meeting. A relatively obscure state agency, HESC meetings rarely generate much interest or news.

In this case, however, the remarks prompted a rebuttal from Cuomo’s office.

"It is shocking that financial aid officers do not yet understand this program. The Excelsior Scholarship is now a year old and New York has devoted an enormous amount of resources towards explaining its policies and procedures. We would encourage any students to contact HESC directly if their schools are incapable of providing the appropriate direction," Cuomo spokesman Don Kaplan said following the HESC meeting.

Then on Thursday, financial aid officials, as well as some business directors from the campuses were told to participate in the conference call led by SUNY’s central administration.

The call was followed by a mass email to campus officials from Lauren McCabe, an assistant to Johnson.

The email recapped Johnson’s press statement on Thursday saying, “Misstatements were aired by a handful of financial aid administrators about the process in implementing the program.”

“Unofficial statements such as these create unnecessary confusion and are not productive in ensuring that this scholarship benefits as many students as possible … if there is a question or concern about the implementation of the Excelsior Scholarship, please call my office or someone from my executive team, call HESC, or go to the HESC website.”

SUNY spokeswoman Holly Liapis noted that “media inquiries always get coordinated through the communications office – either here at SUNY or on each campus.”

The Excelsior Scholarship was rolled out by Cuomo last year and approved by the Legislature in April 2017. It is designed to provide free SUNY tuition to middle class families by covering the “last dollar” or amount that isn’t paid by other grants such as the state’s longstanding Tuition Assistance Program.

This year Excelsior is open to students from families with incomes up to $110,000, which will rise to $120,000 next year.

An estimated 23,000 students are expected to take advantage of it this year.

The program also applies to students in the City University of New York system and there is a similar plan for private schools that chose to participate.

Students need 30 credits per year and must graduate in five years, then remain in New York state for as many years as they received the scholarships.

While popular, financial aid officers point out that Excelsior can be complicated, especially when it comes to the application process.

The family incomes, for instance, need to be verified and there are specific instructions regarding course credits for students who, for instance, have a disability.

The SUNY campus official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of repercussions, said financial aid officers are upset that Cuomo’s office seemed to suggest they were falling down on the job. Others have noted that campus aid officers have for months been asking for clearer guidance on how to run the program.

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“They are not happy that somebody decided to voice all the problems we are having,” one individual said. “We’re in the trenches every day trying to deal with this day in, day out and losing sleep trying to make this program work.”

HESC has offered webinars and has much information on its website, but the information comes from piecemeal sources, the officers said.

In addition to the webinars and training there are several HESC websites.

A look at the social media site Reddit did turn up some comments from CUNY students who were wondering if they had qualified for Excelsior.

“I applied for the Excelsior scholarship back in June, and I have not heard anything from the state in regards to my application. Is this normal?” asked one comment posted less than two weeks ago.

“I haven't heard anything either. The semester is only a few weeks away and it has me worried,” wrote another.

Cuomo spokeswoman Dani Lever on Friday said, “The state is working in lockstep with school administrators and financial aid officers — offering webinars, conference calls, regular bulletins and memos — to ensure they have the necessary guidance to implement this first-in-the-nation program and we will continue those efforts until every eligible student is enrolled in our free-tuition scholarship."

rkarlin@timesunion.com • 518-454-5758 • @RickKarlinTU