Gov. Andrew Cuomo raised an exciting possibility on Tuesday when he unveiled a proposal that would cover tuition at public universities and colleges in New York State for families earning up to $125,000 by 2019. The plan, which requires legislative approval, recognizes that middle-income families that might not be eligible for student aid based on current measures of need are grappling with student debt, too.
But public higher education officials who favor the idea in principle are worried that the Cuomo administration might be lowballing cost projections as a way of selling the proposal and that public institutions that are already struggling to meet the needs of their students might be further squeezed. The Legislature needs to conduct a thorough analysis of the costs before it moves ahead with the tuition program.
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