State University of New York

Agency Web Site: http://www.suny.edu/

Mission

Created in 1948, the State University of New York (SUNY) is the largest public university system in the nation with 64 campuses offering a complete range of academic, professional, and vocational programs. The State University system is uniquely positioned to provide New Yorkers with access to quality postsecondary educational programs in all regions of the State.

Organization and Staffing

SUNY is governed by an eighteen-member Board of Trustees consisting of fifteen members appointed by the Governor, by and with consent of the New York State Senate, the President of the Student Assembly and the Presidents of the University Faculty Senate and Faculty Council of Community Colleges as ex-officio members. Aside from the Board, SUNY's leadership structure also consists of a Chancellor, individual college Presidents and centralized staff. Additionally, each of the thirty community colleges have their own campus presidents and boards of trustees. The State University includes 29 state operated campuses, 5 statutory colleges, and 30 community colleges, located across New York and employing thousands of academic, administrative, and facility personnel.

Budget Highlights

The FY 2019 Executive Budget recommends $10.7 billion for SUNY and projects a workforce of 45,657 consistent with FY 2018 levels.

The FY 2019 funding level represents a $116 million increase from the previous year, which reflects additional employee fringe benefit support, capital project funding, and tuition revenue.

Last year, building on the State’s already generous Tuition Assistance Program, New York launched the groundbreaking Excelsior Scholarship program to provide tuition-free college for middle class families. The FY 2019 Executive Budget launches the second phase of this program. For the 2018-19 academic year, the program’s income eligibility threshold will increase, allowing New Yorkers with household incomes up to $110,000 to be eligible. To continue this landmark program, the Budget includes $118 million to support an estimated 27,000 students for the coming academic year.

The FY 2019 Executive Budget includes legislation to launch the DREAM Act, opening the doors of higher education to thousands of New Yorkers. Since 2002, undocumented students qualify for in-state tuition at SUNY and City University of New York (CUNY) if they graduated from a New York high school or received a GED in the state. Yet, each year, many talented students who graduate from New York high schools remain unable to fulfill their potential simply because they cannot afford the tuition and lack access to tuition assistance to help pay for school. The DREAM Act will give undocumented students access to the Tuition Assistance Program, as well as state-administered scholarships.

The Executive Budget also continues New York’s predictable tuition plan which has kept public college tuition affordable. Average tuition and fees at New York’s public four-year colleges are among the lowest in the nation -- $2,030, or 20 percent, less than the national average and lower than 39 other states.

The FY 2019 Executive Budget maintains base operating aid for SUNY community colleges at $2,747 per full time equivalent student.

For more information on this agency's budget recommendations located in the Executive Budget Briefing Book, click on the following link:

Briefing Book – Higher Education (PDF)

Program Highlights

The State University of New York (SUNY) is one of the nation's largest comprehensive public university, offering over 7,000 degree and certificate programs at the research universities, community colleges, medical schools, and colleges of technology that comprise its 64 campuses. More than 451,000 full- and part-time students - 228,000 at State-operated campuses and 223,000 at community colleges - are pursuing studies ranging from one-year certificate programs to doctorates.

In order to help students obtain an affordable education and graduate on-time, SUNY is expanding its high impact programs across the system. In addition to launching the second phase of the Excelsior Scholarship Program, continuing a predictable tuition plan, and combating exploding student debt, the FY 2019 Executive Budget is also making other strategic investments to ensure all of New York’s aspiring students can go to college and achieve their dreams. A sampling of these investments includes the following:

Open Educational Resources (OER)

The FY 2019 Executive Budget invests $8 million to expand an open educational resource initiative that helps to reduce, and in some instances, eliminate the costs of textbooks for students. The cost of textbooks and related course material have increased at a rate far greater than most families' ability to pay. Unchecked cost increases on student textbooks have also led to a higher debt burden among college students. This funding will enable SUNY and CUNY to continue to advance the expansion of existing OER resources, making college more affordable for students and their families.

Food Pantries on all SUNY and CUNY Campuses

To ensure that consistent healthy food options are available to young adults on college campuses, all SUNY and CUNY schools will be required to either provide physical food pantries on campus, or enable students to receive food through a separate arrangement that is stigma-free. In 2009, fewer than 10 campus food pantries existed at private and state colleges nationwide, and as of 2017, more than 570 currently exist. Only about half of all SUNY and CUNY campuses have food pantries currently in place. New York State would be the first state to require every public campus to have a food pantry.

Note: Most recent estimates as of 01/16/2018