Sanders and Cuomo. | Kevin P. Coughlin/Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo Cuomo enlists Bernie Sanders to unveil free public college proposal

Over chants of “Bernie! Bernie!,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo joined Sen. Bernie Sanders in Long Island City on Tuesday to roll out a proposal to make New York’s public universities tuition-free for students whose families earn less than $125,000 per year.

“Today, what Gov. Cuomo is proposing is a revolutionary idea for higher education, and it’s going to reverberate not only throughout the state of New York, but throughout this country,” Sanders told a crowd of students and elected officials at LaGuardia Community College.


Sanders won a devoted backing of young supporters during his surprisingly strong presidential campaign in 2016, in part on a platform of eliminating tuition for all students at public colleges and universities throughout the country.

Cuomo, who backed Hillary Clinton for president against Sanders last year, said the Vermont socialist “spoke to this issue of college affordability and was ahead of his time in doing it, and really awoke the nation to this crisis.”

While Sanders' plan garnered more attention during the campaign, the plan announced by Cuomo on Tuesday hews closer to a counter-proposal from Clinton, who resisted Sanders’ call for zero tuition for all income levels.

The “Excelsior Scholarship Program” would provide tuition-free college for students accepted to two- and four-year colleges at all state and city universities, with students from households earning $100,000 annually eligible in fall of 2017, ramping up to $110,000 in 2018 and $125,000 in 2019. (Clinton’s plan started immediately at $85,000 and increased to $125,000 by 2021.)

Though further details were not yet released, Cuomo estimated the plan would cost $163 million by 2019 once fully phased in, though costs would vary by the number of participants. The state would cover tuition still owed by students after the application of federal Pell and state Tuition Assistance Program grants.

Cuomo said college affordability is “perhaps the most important” of his 2017 proposals, but it’s unclear how the state would pay the cost, given a looming $3.5 billion deficit. State officials have said they plan to lower overall spending and hold operations spending to 2 percent growth for 2017-18.

Cuomo has supported the idea of tuition-free college in the past, providing scholarship funding for teachers and students entering the fields of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Cuomo’s office also had discussions with the White House last year over President Obama’s “America’s College Promise” proposal for tuition-free community college. Obama’s proposal was influenced by CUNY’s Accelerated Study in Associate Programs, which waives tuition and helps students pay for books and transit costs. At the time, Cuomo reportedly offered up to $500 million to make New York’s community colleges tuition-free.

Several other states and more than 100 communities have established the College Promise program, though SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher said adding four-year public colleges “makes this proposal above and beyond what any other state is talking about.”

“New York will set the pace,” she said.

Tuition at SUNY and CUNY currently ranges from $6,330 to $6,470 for a bachelor’s degree and $4,366 to $4,800 for an associate’s degree, according to system data.

There are currently 84,683 community college students and 137,745 four-year college students at CUNY, according to fall 2016 preliminary enrollment numbers. SUNY, as of fall 2015, had 402,722 undergraduate students, including 222,998 community colleges students.

CUNY’s faculty union and other advocacy and interest groups have estimated it would cost $784 million per year going to replace tuition not currently covered by federal aid at the CUNY system’s two- and four-year colleges.

CUNY chancellor James Milliken, whose administration is under investigation by the governor’s inspector general, was not present for the announcement. Representatives for CUNY and Cuomo’s office wouldn’t say whether he’d been invited or explain his absence. In a statement, Milliken called the plan “bold.”

Mayor Bill de Blasio, who sharply opposed a proposal from Cuomo to shift CUNY costs to the city last year, also did not attend Tuesday’s event. “We applaud the Governor’s announcement today and look forward to seeing the full details of the plan,” spokeswoman Freddi Goldstein said in a statement.

The proposal did not identify several details, like whether the program would have further eligibility requirements required by other state and community programs such as maintaining a certain GPA, or performing community service. It was also unclear whether undocumented immigrants would be eligible. Cuomo and Assembly Democrats have pushed for the Dream Act, which would allow undocumented students access to TAP, but the measure has failed to make it through the Republican-led state Senate.

A spokesman for the Senate Republican conference, Scott Reif, said legislators would review specifics of the governor's proposal, saying it "appears to move us in a positive direction."

State legislators have introduced a number of proposals for tuition-free programs in recent years, but none have made it out of committee. A 2014 bill sponsored by Assemblyman James Skoufis would have made tuition free for all state residents at SUNY and CUNY, and required community service and state residency and employment for a period of five years after degree completion.

Assemblywoman Deborah Glick, a Manhattan Democrat who chairs the Assembly Higher Education Committee, applauded the idea of tuition-free college, but was cautious given past cuts to state funding for higher education.

Glick told POLITICO New York it was “very nice” that the governor is “tacking to the left on college affordability," adding, "whether the governor has any intention of being more generous to the public systems in terms of operating costs than he’s been in the past or capital support remains to be seen.”

Glick also questioned what impact this proposal might have on private colleges if students instead chose to go to public institutions.

Legislative leaders and education groups will likely have to wait until Cuomo’s executive budget proposal, which is due by Jan. 17, for the full proposal. They then will spend the next few months discussing it before voting on a budget before April 1.

“The devil is in the details,” Glick said.