New York takes a stab at debt-free college, covering tuition for families earning less than $125,000

(WashingtonPost) - New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo is forging ahead with one of the Democratic Party’s most popular ideas by proposing to cover tuition for low- and middle-income students at state colleges and universities.

Any New Yorker accepted to one of the state’s community colleges or four-year universities will be eligible for free tuition provided their family earns less than $125,000 a year. The new initiative will be phased in over three years, beginning for New Yorkers making up to $100,000 annually in the fall of 2017, increasing to $110,000 in 2018, and reaching $125,000 in 2019.

Cuomo aims to roll out the program, dubbed the Excelsior Scholarship, over three years beginning this fall, pending legislative approval. His administration estimates that the scholarship will cost at least $163 million in the first year, a price tag that could rise alongside participation. Nearly 1 million families would qualify for the programme.

“College is a mandatory step if you really want to be a success,” Cuomo said Tuesday at LaGuardia Community College in Queens. “And the way this society said we’re going to pay for high school because you need high school, this society should say we’re going to pay for college because you need college to be successful. And New York state is going to do something about it.”

If the proposal clears the state legislature, New York will become the largest state to offer tuition-free public higher education to residents. Yet states across the country and across the political spectrum are paying greater attention to college costs as more local employers demand some form of postsecondary education. According to the Upjohn Institute, there are at least 85 initiatives at the municipal and state level aiming to cover the cost of tuition at community colleges. Tennessee, Oregon and Minnesota have free community-college programs, with Tennessee’s model lauded as a viable path for reducing higher-education costs.

Although momentum for debt-free college has been building for years, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Hillary Clinton elevated the issue of college affordability with campaign proposals to make public higher education free for the vast majority of American families. Those prospects seemed to fade with the election of Donald Trump, but proponents are rallying behind states to continue the fight.