Politics on the Hudson

The New York Public Interest Research Group, the United University Professions union, the Coalition to Defend Public Education at the State University of New York at Albany, and several groups at the City University of New York oppose Gov. David Paterson’s proposal to let SUNY and CUNY campuses to set their own tuition.

In a fact sheet the groups released, they argue that the tuition plans under consideration wouldn’t ensure that SUNY and CUNY tuition stayed affordable, that the state would maintain higher-education funding, or that state financial aid would keep pace with tuition. They said that if the governor’s plan is adopted, “New Yorkers can expect big tuition hikes and a rapid acceleration in the shift of public dollars away from SUNY and CUNY.”

The governor’s plan would put a cap on how much annual tuition hikes can be, up to 9.7 percent. The higher education price index is just 2.3 percent this year. A proposal in the Senate budget resolution would allow tuition increases “that outpace many students’ ability to pay for college,” the groups said.

The SUNY administration supports the governor’s Higher Education Empowerment and Innovation Act, as does the SUNY Student Assembly. Besides allowing tuition rates at different campuses and for different programs, would allow SUNY to lease land without special legislation and enter joint ventures and public-private partnerships (subject to State University Asset Maximization Review Board approval). It would eliminate the requirement for the state comptroller and attorney general to pre-approve construction contracts and provide SUNY with more access to the state Office of General Services centralized contracts for goods and services.

SUNY officials contend that regular and predictable increases are easier for families to plan for, rather than having tuition stay flat for a number of years, followed by a large hike.  That’s what happened in the fall of 1995, when tuition was increased $750, or 28 percent, and in the fall of 2003, it went up 28 percent to $4,350. It was increased $310 in the spring of 2009 and $310 last fall—two 7 percent hikes—and is $4,970.

“At a time when students and parents can least afford it, tuition goes way up, but the Education Empowerment Act provides a more predictable path and ensures that all of the revenue students’ tuition generates goes to their education,” SUNY spokesman David Henahan said.

The fact sheet from the organizations against the Empowerment Act cited a nationwide survey in 2006 that found the average public allocations for higher education decreased 34 times faster in states where public colleges set their own tuition compared to states where legislatures set them. (Currently in New York, the Legislature has to approve increases.)

The organizations contend that allowing certain public colleges and universities set higher tuition rates “lays the groundwork for a tiered system that could price poor students out of more expensive institutions and drive middle-income students even deeper into student loan debt.”

Officials said enactment of the Empowerment and Innovation act would not shut out poor students.

|  Email This