Although funding for the Tuition Assistance Program wasn’t cut when the New York state budget passed last week, spending was cut for other higher education programs, causing Syracuse University officials to continue to monitor aid availability.

Lawmakers ratified Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s New York state budget early Thursday morning, beating the Friday deadline for the first time in five years, according to a Thursday article in The New York Times.

The $132.5 billion budget trims year-to-year spending for the first time in more than a decade but does not add major new taxes, according to the article. The 2011-12 budget eliminates a $10 billion deficit, reducing overall spending by more than 2 percent compared to the previous year, according to a March 27 press release.

The new budget also establishes 10 regional economic development councils, which will create a way to provide funds to expedite job creation by region, according to the governor’s press release.

The executive budget maintains formulas and policies for the TAP enacted in 2010-11 to decrease the projected growth in the program, according to the State of New York 2011-12 Executive Budget Briefing Book.

The TAP, which some SU students use, administers student loans and a savings program for college students and their families, in addition to offering financial guidance, according to a Feb. 3 article published in The Daily Orange.

Ted Traver, project coordinator of the New York Public Interest Research Group, said the threshold for qualifying for some state aid is higher. It may appear as though funding isn’t cut for programs like TAP, but that may simply be because more people are going to college — something necessary in today’s competitive job market, he said.

SU’s Division of Enrollment Management is now ‘closely monitoring’ the proposed cuts in the Federal Pell Grant Program and in the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant Program because nearly 4,000 SU students depend on Pell Grants, said Youlonda Copeland-Morgan, associate vice president for enrollment management and director of scholarships and student aid at SU.

She said SU remains committed to ensuring students receive the financial aid they need.

‘At SU, we are not immune to the state or federal budget debates,’ Copeland-Morgan said in an email. ‘We are pleased, however, that New York’s TAP grant will not see further cuts. Things could have been worse.’

Despite state cuts, SU continues to be a ‘strong participant’ in the Say Yes to Education program and will continue to offer these scholarships, Copeland-Morgan said.

Cuomo, who called higher education a ‘key economic driver’ in his January State of the State address, added $86 million to the State University of New York hospitals, City University of New York community colleges and SUNY schools, according to the March 27 press release.

This number is less than what was added last year. Funding for higher education has reduced by 2.7 percent, or $80 million, compared to the 2010-11 spending, according to the State of New York 2011-12 Executive Budget Briefing Book. 

SUNY will see a $138 million cut this year, a 9.1 percent decrease from last year’s spending, according to the Budget Briefing Book. CUNY will face a $37 million reduction in spending compared to the previous fiscal year.  

The executive budget also terminates General Fund support for three SUNY teaching hospitals, including one in Syracuse, which reflect approximately 8 percent of total hospital operating revenue.

‘Government needs to recognize the new economic reality,’ the governor said in a video Thursday. ‘Government needs to tighten its belt and cut the waste.’

This belt-tightening will hurt poorer urban school districts the most, especially those upstate, because they are heavily dependent on state aid, according to a Thursday article in The New York Times. Yonkers, for instance, had proposed laying off 20 percent of the school district’s workforce, including 400 teachers and administrators.

But the governor has insisted that no layoffs are necessary because school districts can turn to reserves or unspent federal financing, according to the article.

Cuomo has defended the leaner budget, saying short-term sacrifice may be necessary for long-term economic growth.

In the March 27 press release, Cuomo said: ‘This budget makes tough choices, which is what you sent me to Albany to do.’

chlevin@syr.edu

Published on April 3, 2011 at 12:00 pm