Chancellor King and SUNY Board of Trustees on SCOTUS Decision on Student Loan Debt Relief
June 30, 2023
"The State University of New York is discouraged by the Supreme Court's ruling on President Biden's federal student loan forgiveness program. We applaud the President for working to provide student loan relief to working families, and today's decision is a lost opportunity to help people from low and middle-income households.
"Over 43 million Americans collectively carry $1.75 trillion in federal student loan debt. That includes 2.4 million New Yorkers, of which 1.5 million applied to and were eligible for President Biden's federal student loan forgiveness plan. These totals are frightening, so much so that they can dissuade other students from attending college at a time when good job opportunities increasingly require a college degree.
"Under the leadership of Governor Hochul, New York State continues to work to eliminate financial barriers to college. SUNY is affordable due to unprecedented New York State investment, and 53% of resident undergraduate students attend tuition-free. Moreover, the total cost of attendance—from tuition and fees to room and board—at SUNY for resident students who live on campus is approximately 30% lower than what other state university systems cost for their resident students. Still, federal aid to students has not kept up with inflation since the 1980's and the pandemic has hit working families hard. Our students need all the help they can get.
"Eliminating or reducing federal student loan debt for borrowers by $10,000 to $20,000, as President Biden proposed, would have been good for our students, our communities, and our economy, and we hope there will be another path forward for such relief. In the meantime, we will continue to build on Governor Hochul's and SUNY's commitment to expanding access, affordability, and student success."
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 $1.1 billion in fiscal year 2023, 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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Holly Liapis
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