ALBANY — Students and residents around the state can begin applying Wednesday for free tuition to New York's public colleges and universities.

The Excelsior Scholarship program will provide free tuition this coming school year to students from families earning less than $100,000. Students must attend a SUNY or CUNY school full-time, and be enrolled in an undergraduate program — though there are exceptions for students with disabilities and students who encounter specific hardships.

(Are you eligible? Find out here)

The much-touted program, pushed through the Legislature this year, makes New York the first state in the nation to offer free tuition for four years' worth of college.

Applications for the program will be available on the Higher Education Services Corporation website (right here). The deadline to get them in is July 21.

For anyone planning to apply, you'll want to have the following information on hand when you get started:

Income information from your or your guardian's 2015 state tax return

Your college credit history

Any and all financial aid you are expected to receive in the upcoming year, including aid from federal, state, institutional or private sources

The Excelsior Scholarship is a "last dollar" program, meaning it only kicks in once all other forms of financial aid are accounted for, including state Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) awards and federal Pell grants, which benefit low-income families.

The program only covers tuition. Room and board, textbooks, fees and other costs of attending college are not included, and they can make up a big chunk — at the University at Albany, for example, room and board ($12,942) is twice the cost of tuition ($6,470).

Your college credit history is also important, and may affect your eligibility.

The program includes a stringent requirement that students attend school full time, taking at least 12 credits a semester and 30 for the entire year.

Many lawmakers and advocates lamented this requirement, saying it doesn't offer enough flexibility for students with disabilities and for adult students juggling jobs and families. But the Cuomo administration, with the support of SUNY leaders, called the full-time requirement important to ensuring students complete a degree on time and without distraction.

If you don't have any college credits to your name yet — no need to worry.

But for those who've been enrolled and haven't been taking a full 30 credits a year, you won't be eligible for free tuition this coming year. Current students who are six or less credits short of the 30-credit requirement will have the opportunity to "catch up" this coming year, however, and become eligible for the scholarship in 2018-2019.

As with TAP and the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, students must apply for the scholarship on an annual basis.

Educators and advocates are hoping this year's summer application process is an outlier. The free tuition program was proposed by the governor in January and approved by the Legislature in April, making it impossible to include award amounts on financial aid award letters, which are typically mailed in late March or early April.

Officials with the Higher Education Services Corporation said any decisions about future application timelines will be determined at a later date.

Mary Altaffer