Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele, Jr. (I, D, WF-Sag Harbor) announced he helped craft the Assembly’s 2015-16 “Families First” state budget proposal which includes the Higher Education Road to Success initiative, a multi-faceted approach to increase access to college, tackle the ever-rising costs of higher education and expand opportunities for students across New York (E.203).

The Assembly’s Higher Education Road to Success initiative is aimed at increasing the number of students enrolling in, and completing degrees at, colleges and universities. It also invests in skill-development programs to help all students become qualified candidates to fill good-paying jobs in New York’s changing economy.

“Our students work hard in school so that they have the opportunity to go to college,” Assemblyman Thiele said. “Unfortunately, for many students, a college education is unattainable and too difficult to afford. The Assembly’s ‘Families First’ budget proposal would help all of New York’s students go to college and get on the path to success.”

Investing in TAP, other college opportunity programs

To help more students afford college, the Assembly budget would increase the maximum possible TAP award by $150, bringing the total award to $5,315 per full-time equivalent (FTE) student. It would also increase SUNY community college base aid funding by $50 for a total of $2,547 per FTE student.

Additionally, the Assembly budget includes $1.5 million for a foster youth college success initiative to help these students throughout their college careers from start to finish. The plan also includes $1.4 million to make sure that students with disabilities can more easily access TAP, and $250,000 to fund a program to provide outreach and information to students and their parents to help them learn about available financial resources to pay for college.

The Assembly budget also provides a 20 percent increase over last year for the following opportunity programs:

• Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP): $30.8 million, an increase of $5.1 million;
• Educational Opportunity Program (EOP): $26.8 million, an increase of $4.5 million;
• Search for Education, Elevation, and Knowledge program (SEEK): $23.3 million, an increase of $3.5 million;
• Liberty Partnerships: $15.9 million, an increase of $2.6 million;
• Science and Technology Entry Program (STEP): $13.7 million, an increase of $2.3 million;
• Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program (CSTEP): $10.4 million, an increase of $1.8 million; and
• College Discovery Program: $1.12 million, an increase of $187,400.

Strengthening SUNY

“We remain committed to ensuring SUNY has the resources they need to continue providing our students with a world-class education,” Thiele said. “In order to do that, staff and faculty must have up-to-date infrastructure so they can teach our students the skills they need to make it in today’s economy.”

The Assembly’s budget proposal provides $462 million in capital funding for SUNY and:

• restores support for SUNY Health Science centers by $18.6 million to help support New York’s world-class teaching hospitals;
• restores $1 million for ATTAIN work training computer labs and adds $500,000 to increase access to technology for those in economically challenged areas; and
• provides $100,000 to SUNY community colleges to create Summer Bridge programs for incoming students.

Workforce training programs

“We want New Yorkers to be able to count on finding good-paying jobs after they graduate from college,” Assemblyman Thiele said. “That starts with investing in programs that provide critical training for the jobs of tomorrow.”

The Assembly’s budget proposal:

• provides $400,000 for a new Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) initiative to provide hands-on learning experiences for high school students;
• increases funding for Educational Opportunity Centers (EOC) by $2.5 million; and
• allocates $10 million in capital funding for critical maintenance, renovations and upgrades to EOC centers.

Supporting SUNY child care centers

The Assembly budget proposal would restore funding to SUNY child care centers, and provide an increase of $445,000. The child care centers provide students, faculty, staff and the community with a quality, affordable child care option, Thiele noted.