Cuomo Signs NYSUNY 2020 Bill into Law

Governor Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday signed the NYSUNY 2020 plan into law, creating what has been dubbed a "rational tuition plan" for the state university system and implementing the Challenge Grant program.

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. The Challenge Grant program will allow the state schools to compete for resources that will spur long-term economic development at the schools and in their surrounding communities.

"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 Stony Brook University to raise tuition up to $300 per year for the next five years. It will keep revenue generated from those tuition raises at Stony Brook, rather than 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.

In a statement on Tuesday, Stony Brook president Samuel L. Stanley Jr. lauded Cuomo's move, calling it an historic day for the university system. He said the university looks forward to helping Cuomo make his vision for a prosperous state school system a reality, and the rational tuition plan will benefit both the university and its students.

The bill will also enable Stony Brook to put its own SUNY2020 plan into action, "which will provide increased financial aid for our students, grow our faculty, improve research and patient care in cancer, and create new high paying jobs on Long Island," Stanley said.