New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday announced a plan to make college tuition-free for middle-class and low-income New Yorkers.
The plan, dubbed the Excelsior Scholarship, would grant free tuition to a student whose family makes less than $125,000 a year if they attend a state or city school, including community colleges, our partner at WSTM reports.
Cuomo revealed the plan Tuesday morning at a press conference in LaGuardia Community College in Queens.
We’re making college tuition-free for middle-class families.My proposal offers free tuition at SUNY, CUNY schools—every kid deserves a shot. pic.twitter.com/doYc7IoyTe
— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) January 3, 2017
Here's the tweet where Cuomo announced his plan.
College is a mandatory step if you really want to be a success... The debt is so high it's like starting a race with an anchor tied to your leg.
Cuomo's office said the scholarships would allow more than 940,000 families to send kids to college tuition-free. College is as essential to success as high school was 75 years ago, he says, and the state should pay for college as it did for high school.
Bernie Sanders, a proponent of tuition-free college, also spoke at the press conference.
Here's my prediction: If New York state does it this year, mark my words, state after state will follow.
Cuomo hopes the plan can roll out by this fall, assuming it is approved by the state legislature.
WATCH | For more news you need, check out our 60 Second Circa.