SUNY presses ahead with tuition-increase plan

ALBANY - The state University of New York on Monday urged state leaders to support another round of potential tuition increases and rolled out a series of initiatives to help students and staff.

The speech comes at a critical time for SUNY: Chancellor Nancy Zimpher and university-system officials are seeking a five-year extension of its SUNY 2020 plan, which allows the four-year colleges to raise tuition up to $300 a year.

The state Legislature, however, has expressed concerns about another round of tuition increases. Tuition is up $1,500, or 30 percent, at the four-year schools since 2011.

Zimpher contended that students support the tuition increases, saying the money improves the colleges and gets rid of the unpredictable increases of the past.

“In 2011, we did what many said was impossible: We instituted a stable, predictable and fair tuition policy for our state-operated campuses,” Zimpher said in her annual State of the University Address in Albany.

The mid-Hudson Valley is home to two SUNY schools, SUNY New Paltz and Dutchess Community College.

She urged students and supporters to support the “Stand with SUNY” campaign, which would also increase state aid to the system. In November, SUNY voted to seek a 14 percent state-aid increase.

“What they (the students) are saying this time around, ‘We still support SUNY 2020. We’ve got five more years of work to do, but they really want to see the state invest in us as well,'” Zimpher told reporters after her speech.

The heads of the Legislature’s higher education committees have raised concerns about another increase to tuition, saying students shouldn’t be on the hook for ever-increasing tuition at the 64-campus, 460,000-student SUNY system.

Tuition was $6,470 a year for incoming freshmen this past fall, which Zimpher said it is the lowest in the Northeast among public colleges.

Assembly Higher Education Committee chairwoman Deborah Glick, D-Manhattan, said she amendable to having “a conversation” about SUNY’s need for higher tuition, but she would first want to see what Gov. Andrew Cuomo proposes Wednesday in his state budget plan for SUNY.

She said the length of the SUNY 2020 plan and the size of the increase would also be up for discussion.

“I think we are all concerned about student debt, and while the public systems will point to the fact that their graduates graduate with significantly less debt, they also by and large come from families with fewer resources,” Glick said Monday.

Under the expiring five-year plan, the SUNY Board of Trustees has had the right to increase tuition by up to $300 a year — and it approved the maximum each time.

Students and the New York Public Interest Research Group last month delivered 28,000 petition signatures to the legislative leaders and Cuomo to urge them to freeze tuition.

On Monday, SUNY announced $18 million will be awarded to 31 campuses for its SUNY Investment and Performance Fund, which aims to help SUNY reach its goal of awarding 150,000 degrees annually. SUNY graduates about 93,000 students a year.

The grants include $600,000 for SUNY Brockport to support the creation of an Academic Success Center and $250,000 for Binghamton University to work with other university centers to boost student graduation.

Another new initiative is SUNY Path — which will use analytics to better identify struggling students and help them graduate.

Zimpher also announced InternShop, a database to matches employers with prospective student interns, and Open SUNY 2.0, which will expand online teaching and learning courses.

“We are intent on ensuring that every student’s college experience is meaningful and useful,” Zimpher said in her speech. “Every program we are bringing to scale is riveted on ensuring that every student has the chance to succeed.”

Joseph Spector: JSPECTOR@Gannett.com; Twitter: @gannettalbany