The following statement was provided by Trustee and SUNY Student Assembly President Austin Ostro.
“SUNY Students are pleased to see increased investment in public higher education front and center in Governor Cuomo’s executive budget proposal.
We applaud the dramatic increase in spending on capital infrastructure projects proposed in the Governor’s budget. Increased support for capital would allow our campuses to renovate existing spaces, and construct new living and learning environments for students, faculty, and staff.
Our students are also very pleased to see increased funding proposed for Open Educational Resources at SUNY. This support will help alleviate the burden high textbook costs create for many students. We urge the legislature to act on the Governor’s proposal.
We also support the Governor’s plan to raise the maximum income threshold for the Excelsior Scholarship to $150,000. Many regions of our state have high costs of living, and we believe the new threshold will allow more middle class families to access the scholarship.
While we await final details on the Governor’s budget - the Student Assembly remains committed to seeing increased direct state operating support for SUNY - which will ease the financial burden placed on students through increasing tuition and fees. We also remain firmly committed to all of SUNY’s opportunity programs, which open the door to a higher education to thousands of students each year. It essential that funding for opportunity programs be protected and strengthened.
The SUNY Student Assembly looks forward to engaging with legislators, including through our legislative action day on February 27th, on the budget issues most important to our 1.4 million students. SUNY is the economic engine of our state - returning $8.17 in economic development for every $1.00 of public investment. Properly funding public higher education must be a priority this session for all involved in the budget process.”
About the SUNY Student Assembly: The Student Assembly of the State University of New York (SUNY SA) is the recognized student government organization representing the nearly 1.4 million students of the State University of New York. Comprised of student leaders elected by their peers from across SUNY’s 64 campuses, SUNY SA is committed to empowering students throughout the state, and ensuring the representation of its members on the state and national level, as well as throughout the SUNY system.
Source: SUNY SA
We applaud the dramatic increase in spending on capital infrastructure projects proposed in the Governor’s budget. Increased support for capital would allow our campuses to renovate existing spaces, and construct new living and learning environments for students, faculty, and staff.
Our students are also very pleased to see increased funding proposed for Open Educational Resources at SUNY. This support will help alleviate the burden high textbook costs create for many students. We urge the legislature to act on the Governor’s proposal.
We also support the Governor’s plan to raise the maximum income threshold for the Excelsior Scholarship to $150,000. Many regions of our state have high costs of living, and we believe the new threshold will allow more middle class families to access the scholarship.
While we await final details on the Governor’s budget - the Student Assembly remains committed to seeing increased direct state operating support for SUNY - which will ease the financial burden placed on students through increasing tuition and fees. We also remain firmly committed to all of SUNY’s opportunity programs, which open the door to a higher education to thousands of students each year. It essential that funding for opportunity programs be protected and strengthened.
The SUNY Student Assembly looks forward to engaging with legislators, including through our legislative action day on February 27th, on the budget issues most important to our 1.4 million students. SUNY is the economic engine of our state - returning $8.17 in economic development for every $1.00 of public investment. Properly funding public higher education must be a priority this session for all involved in the budget process.”
About the SUNY Student Assembly: The Student Assembly of the State University of New York (SUNY SA) is the recognized student government organization representing the nearly 1.4 million students of the State University of New York. Comprised of student leaders elected by their peers from across SUNY’s 64 campuses, SUNY SA is committed to empowering students throughout the state, and ensuring the representation of its members on the state and national level, as well as throughout the SUNY system.
Source: SUNY SA
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