Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele, Jr., (I, D, WF-Sag Harbor) announced the Assembly’s budget proposal provides $25 million for the New York State Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act (E.914). In addition to creating a private scholarship fund (the DREAM Fund), the DREAM Act would allow undocumented students to apply for state scholarships and the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) to help pay for their higher education.

“As we begin to negotiate a final state budget, it’s imperative to include funding for the DREAM Act in order to provide financial assistance to children of immigrants eager to continue their education,” Assemblyman Thiele said. “The Assembly overwhelmingly passed this legislation last month and stands committed to ensuring it becomes a reality.”

In addition to funding the DREAM Act, the Assembly’s budget proposal makes a commitment to higher education programs by restoring funding and providing a 3 percent increase over last year – a total of $4.2 million – for college opportunity programs. This would result in an increase of $749,900 for the Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP), $1.2 million for the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) and $252,000 for the Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program (C-STEP). In addition, to further help students afford rising college costs, the Assembly proposes to increase Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) awards by $300, bringing the maximum possible award to $5,300 per full-time equivalent (FTE) student. This increases TAP support by $47 million for students across New York State.

Under the Assembly’s DREAM Act (A.2597-A), undocumented immigrant students would need to satisfy certain conditions to be eligible for state tuition assistance and college opportunity programs, including having attended high school in New York State for at least two years and having graduated or received a high school equivalency diploma in-state.

“Many immigrant students were brought to America by their parents because of the better opportunities that exist here,” Thiele said. “They have gone to public schools, and they deserve a chance to further their education. The DREAM Act can help them achieve their goals for a brighter future.”

The approval of the DREAM Act would make New York one of six states – including Texas, New Mexico, Minnesota, California and Washington – to offer state financial assistance to children of undocumented immigrants.

In addition to increasing access to state financial aid programs, the DREAM Act sets up the DREAM Fund, an initiative that would raise private funds to provide scholarships for eligible college-bound children with at least one immigrant parent. The DREAM Act would also expand access to the New York State College Tuition Savings (529) Program through family tuition accounts. The family tuition accounts would be available to anyone who provides a valid taxpayer identification number. This is a significant help to families in saving for their children’s future over an extended period of time, noted Thiele.