They’re going to cut your TAP (Tuition Assistance Program)!
(Read this carefully)
The New York state budget is due to be passed by April 1. It includes a whopping $600+ annual tuition increase for CUNY and SUNY students. Think you’re going to be able to pay for the planned tuition hike with money from the Tuition Assistance Program? Don’t count on it.
Gov. Paterson’s budget is calling for a $120 million reduction to the Tuition Assistance Program. The average TAP award will be cut by $250 to $350, on top of the tuition hike. Here are some of the cuts:
* They’re changing the definition of “full-time” students from 12 to 15 credits per semester. That means you will be forced to take five 3-credit courses per semester to be eligible for full TAP aid.
* If you register for 10 to 14 credits you would get a pro-rated award based on 15 credits. That means that if you take four 3-credit courses per semester, your TAP award will be cut by about 25%.
* If you take 6 to 10 credits your part-time TAP award will be cut by about 25%.
* If you are a graduate student you will not be eligible for TAP aid, period.
* If you are in default on a federal student loan, you will not be eligible for TAP aid, period
* If you didn’t take 18 credits (six 3-credit courses) in your first two semesters at CUNY, you will not be eligible for TAP aid, period.
* If more than one student in your family is attending college, you will lose the TAP award enhancement.
* If anyone in your family receives a New York city or state pension, this income will now be included in calculating your eligibility.
These are only some of the cuts. You do the math.
The bottom line is: while the banks get trillions in free money, CUNY students are getting screwed!
Taken together, the tuition hike and TAP cuts will likely mean that thousands, maybe tens of thousands of students will be pushed out of college. Part-time students will be hit hard. Students from poor and working-class families will be hit hardest. This is a class purge of public higher education.
Students' future at CUNY and SUNY is at stake
What are you going to do about it?
"An educational system isn't worth a great deal if it teaches young people how to make a living but doesn't teach them how to make a life."
~Anonymous
www.nelsoncaban.blogspot.com
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