Bill Text: NY S02129 | 2015-2016 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Permits the commissioner of education to include graduate programs as programs eligible for approval under the state tuition assistance program.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-01-06 - REFERRED TO HIGHER EDUCATION [S02129 Detail]
Download: New_York-2015-S02129-Introduced.html
S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
S. 2129 A. 3051
2015-2016 Regular Sessions
S E N A T E - A S S E M B L Y
January 21, 2015
___________
IN SENATE -- Introduced by Sen. LANZA -- read twice and ordered printed,
and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Higher Education
IN ASSEMBLY -- Introduced by M. of A. MALLIOTAKIS -- read once and
referred to the Committee on Higher Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to tuition assistance
program awards
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
1 Section 1. Paragraph a of subdivision 3 of section 663 of the educa-
2 tion law, as amended by section 4 of part J of chapter 58 of the laws of
3 2011, is amended to read as follows:
4 a. In determining the amount of an award for GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADU-
5 ATE students, the income of the parents shall be excluded if the student
6 has been emancipated from his parents.
7 S 2. The opening paragraph of subparagraph 1 of paragraph b of subdi-
8 vision 3 of section 663 of the education law, as amended by section 5 of
9 part J of chapter 58 of the laws of 2011, is amended to read as follows:
10 The applicant is a student who was married on or before December thir-
11 ty-first of the calendar year prior to the beginning of the academic
12 year for which application is made or is an undergraduate student who
13 has reached the age of twenty-two on or before June thirtieth prior to
14 the academic year for which application is made OR IS A GRADUATE STUDENT
15 and who, during the calendar year next preceding the semester, quarter
16 or term of attendance for which application is made and at all times
17 subsequent thereto up to and including the entire period for which
18 application is made:
19 S 3. Paragraph d of subdivision 3 of section 663 of the education law,
20 as amended by section 6 of part J of chapter 58 of the laws of 2011, is
21 amended to read as follows:
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02112-01-5
S. 2129 2 A. 3051
1 d. Any GRADUATE OR undergraduate student who was allowed to exclude
2 parental income pursuant to the provisions of FORMER subdivision three
3 of section six hundred three of this chapter as they existed prior to
4 July first, nineteen hundred seventy-four may continue to exclude such
5 income for so long as he continues to comply with such provisions.
6 S 4. Subdivision 1 and 2 of section 667 of the education law, subdivi-
7 sion 1 as amended by chapter 622 of the laws of 2008 and subdivision 2
8 as amended by section 1 of part J of chapter 58 of the laws of 2011, are
9 amended to read as follows:
10 1. Recipient qualifications. Tuition assistance program awards are
11 available for all students who are enrolled in approved programs and who
12 demonstrate the ability to complete such courses, in accordance with
13 standards established by the commissioner provided, however, that no
14 award shall be made unless tuition (exclusive of educational fees) and,
15 if applicable, the college fee levied by the state university of New
16 York pursuant to the April first, nineteen hundred sixty-four financing
17 agreements with the New York state dormitory authority charged for the
18 program in which the student is enrolled total at least two hundred
19 dollars a year, and provided further that, no award can exceed one
20 hundred percent of the amount of tuition charged. NOTHING IN THIS
21 SECTION, SECTION SIX HUNDRED SIXTY-ONE OF THIS PART, OR ANY OTHER
22 PROVISION OF THIS CHAPTER SHALL BE READ TO EXCLUDE ANY GRADUATE PROGRAM
23 FROM CLASSIFICATION BY THE COMMISSIONER AS AN APPROVED PROGRAM FOR THE
24 PURPOSES OF THIS SECTION.
25 2. Duration. No undergraduate shall be eligible for more than four
26 academic years of study, or five academic years if the program of study
27 normally requires five years. Students enrolled in a program of remedial
28 study, approved by the commissioner in an institution of higher educa-
29 tion and intended to culminate in a degree in undergraduate study shall,
30 for purposes of this section, be considered as enrolled in a program of
31 study normally requiring five years. An undergraduate student enrolled
32 in an eligible two year program of study approved by the commissioner
33 shall be eligible for no more than three academic years of study. NO
34 GRADUATE STUDENT SHALL BE ELIGIBLE FOR MORE THAN FOUR ACADEMIC YEARS OF
35 STUDY PROVIDED, HOWEVER, THAT NO GRADUATE STUDENT SHALL BE ELIGIBLE FOR
36 MORE THAN ONE DEGREE PROGRAM AT THE MASTER'S, FIRST PROFESSIONAL OR
37 DOCTORATE LEVEL. NO STUDENT SHALL BE ELIGIBLE FOR A TOTAL OF MORE THAN
38 THE EQUIVALENT OF EIGHT YEARS OF COMBINED UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE
39 STUDY. Any semester, quarter, or term of attendance during which a
40 student receives any award under this article, after the effective date
41 of the former scholar incentive program and prior to academic year nine-
42 teen hundred eighty-nine--nineteen hundred ninety, shall be counted
43 toward the maximum term of eligibility for tuition assistance under this
44 section, except that any semester, quarter or term of attendance during
45 which a student received an award pursuant to section six hundred
46 sixty-six of this subpart shall be counted as one-half of a semester,
47 quarter or term, as the case may be, toward the maximum term of eligi-
48 bility under this section. Any semester, quarter or term of attendance
49 during which a student received an award pursuant to section six hundred
50 sixty-seven-a of this subpart shall not be counted toward the maximum
51 term of eligibility under this section.
52 S 5. This act shall take effect immediately.
