Key Points Every Student Should Know About the Proposed NYS Budget in 2010:

- Reduce Maximum TAP Award for Two-Year Degree Programs. The Executive Budget reduces the maximum TAP award for students enrolled in a two-year degree-granting program from $5,000 to $4,000.

- Eliminate TAP for Graduate Students. The Executive Budget eliminates TAP award eligibility for graduate students. The average graduate TAP award is $387.

- Reduce Base Aid for SUNY Community Colleges. The Executive Budget reduces SUNY community college base aid by $285 per full-time equivalent (FTE) student from $2,545 per FTE to $2,260 per FTE.

- Reduce TAP Awards by $75. The Executive Budget reduces all TAP awards by $75

What are you going to do about it?

SUNY Student Assembly Resolution Endorsing the

Public Higher Education Empowerment & Innovation Act

Whereas, the students of The State University of New York are aware of the tremendous fiscal deficit facing the State of New York, and

Whereas, on January 19^th, 2010, Governor David A. Paterson announced the Public Higher Education Empowerment and Innovation Act (hereafter referred to as PHEEIA) as a part of the 2010-2011 Executive Budget proposal, and

Whereas, students of The State University of New York deserve a fair, equitable and responsible tuition policy as mandated by PHEEIA, and

Whereas, PHEEIA presents a rational tuition policy, such as the one endorsed at the Student Assembly Fall Conference on October 18, 2008 by a vote of fifty to ten with four abstentions, and

Whereas, The State University of New York Administration has clear intentions to work with the Student Assembly in creating a fair tuition policy to be passed by the Board of Trustees, and

Whereas, PHEEIA provides the opportunity for increased student involvement in the setting of tuition policy and provides an unprecedented level of transparency, and

Whereas, PHEEIA removes SUNY tuition from the state budget process, and

Whereas, PHEEIA renders impossible the theft of student tuition seen over the past two years in the form of the “90/10” and “80/20” tuition splits between The State University of New York and the state general fund, and

Whereas, PHEEIA provides for a multitude of other measures we believe will benefit students, such as the potential for The State University of New York to tap new revenue streams through public private partnerships, land leases and acquisitions consistent with the University mission, and operational efficiencies including eased state procurement restrictions and reduced bureaucracy,

Therefore, be it resolved, that the Student Assembly of the State University of New York Executive Committee endorses the Public Higher Education Empowerment and Innovation Act with the following provisions: A legislative limit on increasing tuition 1.5 times the 5 year rolling Higher Education Pricing Index average or 6 percent of the current tuition, whichever is less, and a legislative limit on the amount which the SUNY Board of Trustees may charge for differential tuition.

Finally be it resolved, that the Student Assembly of the State University of New York will advocate strongly for the support and passage of Public Higher Education Empowerment and Innovation Act, with our provisions, going forward.