Cuomo Signs NYSUNY 2020 Bill

Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the NYSUNY 2020 plan into law this week, which creates a tuition plan for the state university system, among other initiatives

“In signing the rational tuition plan, Governor Cuomo has demonstrated his support for SUNY and the important role it plays in education, research, and in the economic development of our State," said President W. Hubert Keen.

Cuomo said in a statement the new law is intended to help families plan ahead for tuition increases rather than face unpredictable increases from year to year.

"New York State's universities are the jewel of our state's educational system, and with this bill the SUNY system will now be perfectly positioned to become the engine of economic growth across the state," Cuomo said.

The law will enable Farmingdale State to raise tuition up to $300 per year for the next five years. The school will keep revenue generated from those tuition raises, rather than it feeding back into the general state budget as has been done in previous years.

Each of the four SUNY research campuses will also receive a $20 million allotment for construction projects. The Challenge Grant program in the law will allow the state schools to compete for resources that at the schools and in their surrounding communities.

"Our students and their parents will now be able to better plan for their college costs and won't be subject to the sudden, dramatic, and burdensome increases of the past, and they will receive the enhanced student services they deserve," President Keen said. "I applaud Chancellor Zimpher for making the rational tuition plan a reality.”