N.Y. Senate Higher Education Committee reports 10 bills to floor, including tuition-assistance expansions

The New York State Senate Committee on Higher Education on Feb. 3 reported 10 bills to the Senate floor without recommendation, advancing a package of measures that would change tuition-assistance rules, create a new professional license, and set administrative deadlines for financial-aid determinations.

The package includes bills to expand tuition-assistance eligibility for students experiencing homelessness (Senate Bill 27), require multiple written notices to students about tuition-liability policies (S.B. 78), extend a loan-forgiveness award program for prosecutors and legal services attorneys (S.B. 161), require universities to provide information about funding opportunities for students in foster care (S.B. 378), add the Asian Lunar New Year to the list of protected cultural observances at SUNY and CUNY (S.B. 553), allow certain engineering firms to receive certificates of authority to practice geology (S.B. 620), license genetic counseling as a profession (S.B. 3029), require the Higher Education Services Corporation to determine financial-aid eligibility within 60 days (S.B. 3738), increase maximum years of study under the Tuition Assistance Program to six aggregate years (S.B. 3779), and extend tuition-assistance awards for eligible graduate students in certain STEM, education and licensed health professions for two additional years (S.B. 3810).

Why it matters: the measures would affect eligibility and administration of state financial-aid programs, create one new licensure category, and change institutional notice and information duties. The changes could affect undergraduate and graduate students across New York, recent and prospective attorneys covered by the loan-forgiveness program, foster-care students seeking aid, and certain professional firms and counselors seeking licensure.

Votes at a glance

- S.B. 27 (Jackson): Amends Education Law to expand eligibility for tuition-assistance awards for students defined as experiencing homelessness under the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. No memos in support or opposition were listed in the transcript. Motion moved by Senator Webb; second recorded as Senator Ocker (transcript spelling varies). Committee recorded the bill as reported to the floor "without recommendation." If enacted, effective July 1 following enactment.

- S.B. 78 (Liu): Requires institutions of higher education to provide written notices of their tuition-liability policies multiple times per academic year. No memos recorded in the transcript. Motion moved by Senator Jackson; seconded by Senator Webb. Reported to the floor without recommendation. If enacted, effective 90 days after becoming law.

- S.B. 161 (Ramos): Amends Education Law to expand eligibility and increase awards in the District Attorney and Indigent Legal Services attorney loan-forgiveness program: eligibility period from six to eight years and maximum annual award from $3,400 to $8,000. Memo of support noted from the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Motion moved and seconded; reported to the floor without recommendation. If enacted, effective April 1, 2026.

- S.B. 378 (Stavisky): Requires the commissioner of education and the Office of Children and Family Services to produce conspicuous materials about state and federal funding programs available to foster youth attending SUNY or CUNY and make that information available in admissions and financial aid offices. No memos in the transcript. Motion moved and seconded; reported to the floor without recommendation. If enacted, effective 90 days after becoming law.

- S.B. 553 (Lou): Adds the cultural celebration of the Asian Lunar New Year to statutes protecting students who observe religious or cultural holidays at SUNY and CUNY. Memo of support from the City University of New York was noted. Motion moved and seconded; reported to the floor without recommendation. If enacted, effective immediately.

- S.B. 620 (Stavisky): Allows grandfathered engineering companies to receive certificates of authority to practice geology provided at least one officer or director is a licensed professional geologist. Memos of support noted from the American Council of Engineering Companies and the New York State Council of Professional Geologists. Motion moved and seconded; reported to the floor without recommendation. If enacted, effective immediately.

- S.B. 3029 (Stavisky): Establishes genetic counseling as a licensed profession in New York State. No memos in support or opposition listed in the transcript. Motion moved and seconded; reported to the floor without recommendation. If enacted, effective two years after becoming law.

- S.B. 3738 (Stavisky): Requires the Higher Education Services Corporation (HESC) to determine a student's eligibility for financial aid within 60 days of receiving a completed application, with a possible 30-day extension by written notice. Memo of support noted from the Association of Private Colleges. Motion moved and seconded; reported to the floor without recommendation. If enacted, effective July 1 following enactment.

- S.B. 3779 (Gennardis): Increases the maximum aggregate years of study eligible for the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) to six years. Memo of support from the Association of Private Colleges noted. Motion moved and seconded; reported to the floor without recommendation. If enacted, effective July 1 following enactment.

- S.B. 3810 (Cebesto): Extends tuition-assistance awards to eligible graduate students for two years if enrolled in post-baccalaureate programs leading to graduate, first-professional, or doctoral degrees in STEM fields, education, or licensed health professions. Memos of support noted from the Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities and the Association of Private Colleges. Motion moved and seconded; reported to the floor without recommendation. If enacted, effective July 1 following enactment.

Discussion and staff notes

Most bills drew no extended debate in committee; several sponsors and other senators moved and seconded bills and the committee clerk recorded each as reported to the floor without recommendation. Committee staff present and introduced at the start of the meeting included Jan Dorman (committee director), Besla Mountain (committee clerk and legislative director), Dave Spellman (assistant deputy director, central staff), Alaina Kilcullen (associate counsel), Malik Dyer (finance director for education), and Pat Wells (budget analyst). The meeting also noted a visiting session assistant from University College Cork.

One substantive policy exchange recorded on S.B. 3810 concerned the use of statewide income thresholds for graduate-aid eligibility. A member suggested considering regionally adjusted income thresholds aligned with the state's 10 economic-development regions so that median-income differences between downstate and upstate areas would be reflected when setting eligibility. The chair acknowledged the suggestion and said the committee would look at regional approaches.

Next steps and timing

All 10 bills were marked as reported to the full Senate for consideration. The committee did not record roll-call tallies in the transcript; committee announcements appoint each bill to be taken up on the Senate floor under the normal legislative calendar. Several bills include specified effective dates in their text (immediate, 90 days after enactment, July 1 following enactment, April 1, 2026, or two years after enactment) as noted above.

Ending

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 11:49 a.m. local time after the vote on S.B. 3810.