Statement by SUNY Chairman H. Carl McCall and Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher on New York State Budget Agreement

April 8, 2017

"With investment to bring a SUNY education within reach for all New Yorkers, this year's budget is affirmation from the State that our colleges and universities offer a top-quality higher education that prepares students for career success and is among the most affordable in the world.
 
"We applaud Governor Cuomo and the Legislature on a budget agreement that includes a truly ground-breaking, first-in-the-nation tuition-free program in the Excelsior Scholarship together with a tuition plan to ensure college costs are predictable and transparent for all SUNY students and their families.
 
“Additional multi-year support in the form of maintenance of effort and capital funding will provide financial stability for our university system and allow our state-operated campuses to plan for future growth while also protecting an aging infrastructure.
 
“As we prepare for the new enrollment that these innovative programs and initiatives may bring, we had hoped for additional support for our community colleges. We will work hard with our state and local partners to explore the availability of additional resources to supplement state funds and scholarships provided for this sector and the students our 30 community colleges serve in every region of New York State.”

About the State University of New York
The State University of New York is the largest comprehensive system of higher education in the United States, and more than 95 percent of all New Yorkers live within 30 miles of any one of SUNY’s 64 colleges and universities. Across the system, SUNY has four academic health centers, five hospitals, four medical schools, two dental schools, a law school, the country’s oldest school of maritime, the state's only college of optometry, and manages one US Department of Energy National Laboratory. In total, SUNY serves about 1.4 million students amongst its entire portfolio of credit- and non-credit-bearing courses and programs, continuing education, and community outreach programs. SUNY oversees nearly a quarter of academic research in New York. Research expenditures system-wide are nearly $1.16 billion in fiscal year 2024, including significant contributions from students and faculty. There are more than three million SUNY alumni worldwide, and one in three New Yorkers with a college degree is a SUNY alum. To learn more about how SUNY creates opportunities, visit suny.edu.

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