- It pays for just half of the cost of attending college.
New York has a higher-than-average cost of living. Books, fees, food, housing and incidentals aren’t covered by this scholarship, so students without family support must work or borrow. “I have students choosing between a MetroCard and lunch, or sharing books with other students,” said Gail Mellow, the president of LaGuardia Community College. She nonetheless calls Excelsior a “wonderful opportunity” and says that to complement the shift, her college will direct more of its own scholarship money toward living expenses.
- You must attend full time and finish on time.
The Excelsior is good for two years for a two-year program like an associate’s degree, or four years for a four-year program. That sounds reasonable, except when you realize that, according to the most recent numbers, just 34 percent of freshmen at public universities nationwide graduated within four years.
Mellow sees this as a healthy incentive for students: “The data are incontrovertible: The faster you can get a student through college, the more likely they are to graduate.” There are hardship provisions in the new program for students who must pause their participation.
Still, given the number of students who struggle with work, childcare and other responsibilities, this provision makes the program a lot less universal than it might seem at first blush.
- You must stay in the state.
The Excelsior requires people to work in New York State for at least two years after they receive an associate’s degree, or four years post-bachelor’s. If they leave, the full grant retroactively becomes a loan. This is seen as a way to ensure that New York taxpayers reap their investment in the form of a more educated workforce.
But Sara Goldrick-Rab of Temple University, a noted “free college” advocate, protested this idea at length on Twitter, calling it a “trick”:
“as someone who has worked on almost every free college bill, I promise @NYGovCuomo won’t be remembered well if he keeps this provision.”
In another tweet, she noted that, “Free college is about moving beyond a complex, untrustworthy aid system. This move perpetuates existing problems.”
Article Appeared @http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2017/04/11/523290884/here-s-the-fine-print-on-the-countrys-biggest-ever-free-college-plan