Hundreds of thousands of New York residents mulling the idea of going to college at a public university could soon enroll for free, as the state’s lawmakers passed a budget over the weekend that included a program that would allow students from middle- and low-income families to attend college for free. The threshold for qualification will increase to $110,000 next year and to $125,000 in 2019. There are restrictions though: Students must be enrolled full-time with an average of at least 30 credits per year and continue to meet the minimum GPA requirement for their program. Students receiving the free tuition will be required to live and work in New York after graduation for the same number of years that they benefited from the tuition grants. SUNY Chairman Carl McCall and Chancellor Nancy Zimpher applauded the budget deal in a statement released by the school, calling the plan “truly ground-breaking.”

But they also said they had “hoped for additional support,” especially for SUNY community colleges, which they expect to have more students because of the scholarship. The state's Excelsior Scholarship program will be rolled out in tiers over the next three years, starting with full coverage of four-year college tuition this fall for students whose families make less than $100,000. There is no child who will go to sleep tonight and say, I have great dreams, but I don’t believe I’ll be able to get a college education because parents can’t afford it.”

Presented as part of the state’s 2018 fiscal year budget, the program is intended to alleviate the “crushing burden of student debt and [place] more New Yorkers on the path to financial security,” the governor’s office said, and would provide free tuition to around 80 percent of New York families with college-aged children. Free college: from campaign promise to reality

New York may be the first state in the country to make “free college” a reality, but in February, San Francisco became the first U.S. city to offer all of its residents free tuition for community college.
Starting this spring, the state of New York will offer free four-year public college tuition for residents whose families make less than $100,000, the first state in the country to do so.