NYSUNY 2020 Challenge Grants

In 2011, the State University of New York and the Office of the Governor embarked on a groundbreaking partnership to establish the NYSUNY 2020 Challenge Grant Program - an initiative that has spurred economic growth across the state and strengthened the academic programs of New York's public universities and colleges. The mission of the program is to elevate SUNY as a catalyst for regional economic development and affordable education. The program provides incentive for capital development on SUNY campuses and within surrounding communities, while also establishing Maintenance of Effort provisions and a rational tuition program that allows schools, parents and students to anticipate expenses.

In the first round of the program, $140 million was awarded to SUNY University Centers - University at Albany, University at Buffalo, Binghamton University, and Stony Brook University - to support capital projects in their regions. The grants, administered through the Empire State Development Corporation and SUNY's Construction Fund, are given to projects that leverage private sector resources to fulfill long term economic and academic plans. Proposals met criteria such as:

• Ways the school will bring the local community and stakeholders together through the Regional Economic Development Councils to spur local economic development and contribute to regional revitalization;
• Strategic partnerships, such as public/private partnerships, to increase academic and economic benefits;
• Endorsements from surrounding local governments in support of the plan;
• Funding mechanisms, such as capital financing, tuition increases and private sector financing; and
• Details for expansion, including faculty to be hired, property to be purchased and for what purpose.

Entering into the third round of NYSUNY 2020 Challenge Grants, the program has so far enabled campuses to:

• Generate $509M in cumulative incremental revenue;
• Employ more than 520 additional instructional staff, including 270 net new full-time faculty;
• Increase the percentage of historically underrepresented minority students from 14 percent in Fall 2010 to 18 percent in Fall 2012;
• Create more than 100 new degree programs at the state-operated campuses, many of which reflect investment in programs that will meet the needs of New York’s growing workforce and economic revitalization, such as a master’s in Community Health and Health Behavior; master’s and doctorate in Genetics, Genomics & Bioinformatics; and various doctorates of Nurse Practitioner all at the University of Buffalo; and other expansions of programs, such as Social Work offerings at Brockport; and
• Improve student services offerings, such as the creation of a centralized Academic Support Center at Stony Brook, which will provide upwards of 32,000 hours of individualized tutoring for undergraduate students.

The future of the NYSUNY 2020 Challenge Grants will land SUNY and the State of New York at the top of global standards for providing a world-class education and enabling vast economic growth for New Yorkers.