Students who graduate from the Syracuse City School District and are accepted to Syracuse University will receive free tuition for four years, as part of a newly adopted national initiative.

New York Gov. David Paterson added $350,000 to his budget proposal for the ‘Say Yes to Education’ program in Syracuse. The Jan. 15 funding request must be approved by the state Legislature in order for the program to be recognized and paid for by New York state taxpayers.

Paterson’s proposal would add the State University of New York and the City University of New York systems to the program, which already includes SU, Columbia University and more than 20 other private colleges. Students in the program will not pay tuition or other university fees.

Dan Lowengard, superintendent of Syracuse city schools, said Say Yes will benefit Syracuse economically by bringing in more residents. But most importantly, he said, the program is designed to change the number and the kind of kids who go to college.

‘The fiscal barrier was the only barrier that was keeping them from the best possible school they could get into,’ Lowengard said. ‘Students that never thought about attending private school … can now think about it.’

Gov. Paterson recently raised tuition 14 percent at SUNY and CUNY schools, in an effort to reduce the state’s deficit, according to Paterson’s 2008-09 deficit reduction plan.

Chancellor Nancy Cantor applauded Gov. Paterson’s budget proposal and supported SU’s participation in the program in the Syracuse Post-Standard Monday.

Cantor mentioned that New York is suffering one of its greatest financial challenges in a century, and that the state ‘must invest in (its) children’ to remain competitive.

New York is not the only place facing financial difficulties, though. SU slashed $8 million from its operating budget and laid off 48 employees before the start of Spring Semester, according to a letter by Cantor.

Hong Kong native Simeng Gao, a sophomore international relations major, attends SU with a merit scholarship but is paying three-quarters of the tuition herself. As an international student, Gao is not eligible for a need-based scholarship. She said she thinks the Say Yes program is unfair.

‘It’s difficult for me to see why local students get full tuition paid for,’ Gao said. ‘You’d think they would give this to students based on merit, not just because of where they go to high school.’

William Duncombe, professor of public administration in Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs’ Center for Policy Research, said this proposal is only a tiny fraction of a huge state budget.

‘Quite frankly, $350,000 is a drop in the bucket,’ he said. ‘I guess what he is doing is seeing a program that he thinks might be successful, and he is willing to invest into it. Obviously it’s not the best year to do it, since we’re in a financial crisis. But it’s such a small amount of money that it’s fairly inconsequential.’

blbump@syr.edu

Published on January 21, 2009 at 12:00 pm