Opinion

Opinion: Increasing CUNY and SUNY tuition is a working and middle-class tax increase in disguise

It’s time for the state to reinvest in both institutions and follow through on Gov. Kathy Hochul’s vision for higher education.

Raising tuition for CUNY and SUNY students is essentially a tax on the working and middle-class in disguise, writes Assembly Member Michaelle Solages.

Raising tuition for CUNY and SUNY students is essentially a tax on the working and middle-class in disguise, writes Assembly Member Michaelle Solages. John Paraskevas/Newsday RM via Getty Images

In 2022, Gov. Kathy Hochul laid out an ambitious agenda for public higher education in New York. She committed to increasing CUNY and SUNY funding by $1.5 billion over five years, and by 2030, she aims to ensure that two thirds of all New Yorkers have a post-secondary credential.

The legislature worked eagerly with her last budget cycle, commending and enhancing this vision, fighting for additional steps toward the New Deal for CUNY (A5843), which would ensure adequate numbers of full-time faculty, mental health counselors, and academic advisors. Importantly, the New Deal for CUNY would make the institution free to attend, as it was for more than a century, until 1975.

I am passionate about CUNY because I know the transformative power of public higher education. When I worked in a university library, I saw day in and day out the students who were in the process of bettering their economic and intellectual lives. Make no mistake: CUNY transforms lives at a striking scale. In my district alone (the state Assembly’s 22nd in Nassau County), there are 439 CUNY employees, 1,764 CUNY students, and a stunning 4,309 CUNY alumni. 

While the Executive Budget has some good elements for public higher education, it falls short of the vision from 2022. Troublingly, for the first time in years, Gov. Hochul is proposing to increase tuition.

New York has the opportunity to step up where the federal government fell short, and make public higher education free, fulfilling the vision of President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better Act, in its original and intact form. Raising tuition sends us in the opposite direction, away from this aspiration.

The comptroller recently reported that New York state has generated $7.7 billion in revenue above projections from last year. Without raising taxes one cent on the ultra-wealthy, we already have nearly $8 billion to deploy for New Yorkers. If we choose to raise taxes on those with great wealth, we will have even more.

CUNY and SUNY are intuitions of the highest quality, and they should also be fully accessible. Instead of hiking tuition, we should be taking steps toward eliminating tuition. For approximately $200 million, we could reverse the last tuition hike under Governor Cuomo and not raise tuition this year, while maintaining current levels of funding at both CUNY and SUNY. 

But we should not stop there. Community colleges have seen the steepest enrollment declines in recent years, and if that trend continues, it will be virtually impossible to meet the governor’s goal of two thirds of New Yorkers holding a post-secondary credential. If we applied just a fraction of the $7.7 billion that the Comptroller recently identified, we could eliminate tuition at all community colleges, statewide.

In this context, the idea that we would raise tuition on the poor, working-class, and middle-class students, a majority people of color at CUNY, is anathema. After all, what is tuition at a public institution, but a tax by other means?

Imagine if the New York State Library charged rental fees to the ordinary New Yorkers who come to read and explore. Like other public services, libraries are funded with public dollars, generated from regular tax receipts. It should be no different at CUNY and SUNY, especially since these institutions serve those who are in economic need and who are actively aspiring to economic stability and mobility.

The vision for public higher education that Gov. Hochul expressed to the state last year was a really important step in the right direction. This year, we should build on that vision, not drift away from it. CUNY and SUNY need to be funded properly, so that when students arrive, they have the academic and mental health supports they need, and so that when they go into the classroom, they meet faculty who are reasonably compensated and who have job security – so that those students can come back for a letter of recommendation a year or two down the line and find that their professor is still there, ready to help with an application for a job or a master’s degree.

We are blessed to live in a state with extraordinary wealth. We do not have to wait for the federal government to expand our social services, to make inspiring and economically wise policy decisions, like making public higher education free. And we certainly do not need to raise state revenue on the backs of low-income students who are struggling to get a post-secondary degree. We have the resources to pass a New Deal for CUNY, and to ensure a fully funded SUNY. Let’s do it.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.