Thanks to the leadership of Governor Kathy Hochul, Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Speaker Carl Heastie, and members of the New York State Senate and Assembly, the students, faculty, and staff of the State University of New York (SUNY) benefitted greatly from historic investments in the 2023-24 Enacted State Budget. These investments helped boost enrollment, support community college workforce development programs, expand wraparound support services (such as mental health care, programs for students with disabilities, and addressing food insecurity), provide paid internships, establish the SUNY Black Leadership Institute, as well as unleash SUNY research, innovation, and economic development.
To continue to build upon the promise of cementing SUNY as the best state system of public higher education in the country...
SUNY respectfully asks that the investments proposed within the Executive Budget be accepted, programs reduced be restored, and additional funding be provided in this year's Senate and Assembly one-house budget proposals.
NYS students who are eligible for FAFSA support leave an estimated $200 million on the table every year because they didn't apply for FAFSA and may not pursue higher education due to concerns over costs. In order to reduce racial and socioeconomic disparities in FAFSA completion rates, increase college-going, and improve college affordability, we ask the Senate and Assembly to support a policy that ensures every high school senior completes the FAFSA or the NYS Dream Act application (or signs a waiver form indicating they have elected not to). This policy will help educate students previously unaware of how FAFSA can help and will not prevent any student from receiving their high school diploma.
Download SUNY FAFSA 2024 Budget Info Sheet
SUNY is working hand-in-hand with State leaders to create an AI consortium that secures New York’s place at the forefront of the artificial intelligence industry. Known as Empire AI, funding this year will create and launch a state-of-the-art AI computing center at the University at Buffalo. The center will be accessible statewide to leading institutions - including all four SUNY university centers - to promote responsible research and development, create jobs, and unlock AI opportunities focused on public good. This $400 million public and private investment must include $275 million from the State to succeed. SUNY requests full support and implementation of the Executive proposal for Empire AI.
Download SUNY Research and Innovation 2024 Budget Priorities
To aid in SUNY’s contributions to New York State's Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLPCA) goals, SUNY is proposing the creation of a $100 million "SUNY Clean Energy Implementation Fund." These funds, seeded by bonded State capital and supplemented by existing funds such as the Clean Energy Bond Act, State, Local, and Federal Grants, and ultimately reimbursed to the State through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) Direct Pay benefits, would accelerate the implementation of the Clean Energy Master Plans developed at the SUNY State-operated campuses. Funds would support the design and construction of geothermal networks, energy efficiency retrofits, full campus electrification, and other clean energy projects.
SUNY has a backlog of more than $8 billion in unmet capital needs, not counting priority new construction projects that will attract students, faculty, and research dollars to the state. SUNY requests a capital allocation of $1 billion for critical maintenance and new construction across State-operated campuses and Statutory Colleges. We also ask for the inclusion of $750 million for new construction for projects at each of the four university centers to expand research and innovation, as well as $150 million in capital funding for the three SUNY hospitals.
Download SUNY Debt Service and Hospital Capital 2024 Budget Priorities
Troubling health care workforce shortages have occurred nationwide, including here in New York. The State has established a goal of increasing New York’s health care workforce by 20%. Chancellor King established the SUNY Future of Healthcare Workforce Task Force to leverage SUNY's role in ensuring the availability of a highly trained, diverse, and sustainable healthcare workforce. To support the task force's work, SUNY requests full implementation of its recommendations, including $75 million in one-time capital funding, $18 million to fully leverage nursing simulation, $13 million to develop SUNY's healthcare educator pipeline, $7 million to increase diversity and student support, and $9 million to support innovation and partnerships.
SUNY's commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion has never been stronger, especially in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling overturning affirmative action, which makes it harder for Black and Hispanic students, women, veterans, and other protected classes of individuals to gain access to higher education. The Senate and Assembly secured funds in last year’s budget to establish the first-ever SUNY Black Leadership Institute.
This year, SUNY requests continued support of the groundbreaking Hispanic Leadership Institute, restoration of and ongoing support for the newly created Black Leadership Institute, and adoption and funding for a new Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Leadership Institute (S7684/A8262).
Download SUNY Executive Leadership Institutes 2024 Budget Info Sheet
SUNY is grateful to the Legislature for including restoration of the $1.3M legislative add which as in the 2023-24 Enacted Budget and for the Assembly One-House Budget proposing an additional $2.2M in EOP funding for FY2025.
Download SUNY EOP 2024 Budget Info Sheet
The Executive Budget proposal lays a strong foundation for public higher education. But there are some specific areas SUNY respectfully requests be restored or added:
$91.4 million for debt service parity for SUNYs three hospitals (Upstate, Downstate, and Stony Brook) and the Jacobs School of Medicine
$86.5 million for State-Negotiated Collective Bargaining Agreement Implementation at State-operated Campuses and Hospitals
$1 million restoration for Mental Health Services
$1 million restoration for High Needs Nursing
$1 million restoration for SUNY Maritime Cadet Appointment Program Scholarships
$400,000 restoration for Immigration Integration Research and Policy Institute at the Rockefeller Institute for Government (RIG)
