Bill Text: NY A05912 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Permits the commissioner of education to include graduate programs as programs eligible for approval under the state tuition assistance program.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-07-14 - held for consideration in higher education [A05912 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-A05912-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          5912
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
                   IN ASSEMBLY
                                    February 20, 2019
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  MALLIOTAKIS -- read once and referred to the
          Committee on Higher Education
        AN ACT to amend the education law, in  relation  to  tuition  assistance
          program awards
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section 1. Paragraph a of subdivision 3 of section 663 of  the  educa-
     2  tion law, as amended by section 4 of part J of chapter 58 of the laws of
     3  2011, is amended to read as follows:
     4    a.  In determining the amount of an award for graduate and undergradu-
     5  ate students, the income of the parents shall be excluded if the student
     6  has been emancipated from his parents.
     7    § 2. The opening paragraph of subparagraph 1 of paragraph b of  subdi-
     8  vision 3 of section 663 of the education law, as amended by section 5 of
     9  part J of chapter 58 of the laws of 2011, is amended to read as follows:
    10    The applicant is a student who was married on or before December thir-
    11  ty-first  of  the  calendar  year prior to the beginning of the academic
    12  year for which application is made or is an  undergraduate  student  who
    13  has  reached  the age of twenty-two on or before June thirtieth prior to
    14  the academic year for which application is made or is a graduate student
    15  and who, during the calendar year next preceding the  semester,  quarter
    16  or  term  of  attendance  for which application is made and at all times
    17  subsequent thereto up to and  including  the  entire  period  for  which
    18  application is made:
    19    § 3. Paragraph d of subdivision 3 of section 663 of the education law,
    20  as  amended by section 6 of part J of chapter 58 of the laws of 2011, is
    21  amended to read as follows:
    22    d. Any graduate or undergraduate student who was  allowed  to  exclude
    23  parental  income  pursuant to the provisions of former subdivision three
    24  of section six hundred three of this chapter as they  existed  prior  to
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD09940-01-9
        A. 5912                             2
     1  July  first,  nineteen hundred seventy-four may continue to exclude such
     2  income for so long as he continues to comply with such provisions.
     3    §  4. Subdivisions 1 and 2 of section 667 of the education law, subdi-
     4  vision 1 as amended by chapter 622 of the laws of 2008 and subdivision 2
     5  as amended by chapter 400 of the laws of 2018, are amended  to  read  as
     6  follows:
     7    1.  Recipient  qualifications.  Tuition  assistance program awards are
     8  available for all students who are enrolled in approved programs and who
     9  demonstrate the ability to complete such  courses,  in  accordance  with
    10  standards  established  by  the  commissioner provided, however, that no
    11  award shall be made unless tuition (exclusive of educational fees)  and,
    12  if  applicable,  the  college  fee levied by the state university of New
    13  York pursuant to the April first, nineteen hundred sixty-four  financing
    14  agreements  with  the New York state dormitory authority charged for the
    15  program in which the student is enrolled  total  at  least  two  hundred
    16  dollars  a  year,  and  provided  further  that, no award can exceed one
    17  hundred percent of the amount of  tuition  charged.    Nothing  in  this
    18  section,  section  six  hundred  sixty-one  of  this  part, or any other
    19  provision of this chapter shall be read to exclude any graduate  program
    20  from  classification  by the commissioner as an approved program for the
    21  purposes of this section.
    22    2. Duration. No undergraduate shall be eligible  for  more  than  four
    23  academic  years of study, or five academic years if the program of study
    24  normally requires five years. Students enrolled in a program of remedial
    25  study, approved by the commissioner in an institution of  higher  educa-
    26  tion and intended to culminate in a degree in undergraduate study shall,
    27  for  purposes of this section, be considered as enrolled in a program of
    28  study normally requiring five years. An undergraduate  student  enrolled
    29  in  an  eligible  two year program of study approved by the commissioner
    30  shall be eligible for no more than three academic  years  of  study.  An
    31  undergraduate  student  enrolled in an approved two or four-year program
    32  of study approved by the  commissioner  who  must  transfer  to  another
    33  institution  as  a result of permanent college closure shall be eligible
    34  for two additional semesters, or their equivalent, as determined by  the
    35  commissioner,  in  order  to  complete his or her program.   No graduate
    36  student shall be eligible for more than four  academic  years  of  study
    37  provided,  however,  that no graduate student shall be eligible for more
    38  than one degree program at the master's, first professional or doctorate
    39  level. No student shall be eligible for a total of more than the  equiv-
    40  alent  of  eight years of combined undergraduate and graduate study. Any
    41  semester, quarter, or term of attendance during which a student receives
    42  any award under this article, after the effective  date  of  the  former
    43  scholar  incentive  program  and prior to academic year nineteen hundred
    44  eighty-nine--nineteen hundred ninety, shall be counted toward the  maxi-
    45  mum  term  of  eligibility  for  tuition  assistance under this section,
    46  except that any semester, quarter or term of attendance during  which  a
    47  student  received  an award pursuant to section six hundred sixty-six of
    48  this subpart shall be counted as one-half  of  a  semester,  quarter  or
    49  term,  as  the case may be, toward the maximum term of eligibility under
    50  this section. Any semester, quarter or term of attendance during which a
    51  student received an award pursuant to section six hundred  sixty-seven-a
    52  of  this  subpart shall not be counted toward the maximum term of eligi-
    53  bility under this section.
    54    § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.