State budget may cut aid to private colleges
Syracuse University students applying for need-based financial aid through New York state might be disappointed with the amount the state is willing to give.
As part of his 2004-2005 budget proposal, Gov. George E. Pataki wants to make cuts from the budgets of private universities and state community colleges in an effort to prevent State University of New York students from seeing an increase in their tuition.
The cuts will include a 5 percent decrease in the Direct Institutional Aid, or Bundy Aid. Bundy Aid for the state will be brought down from $44.2 million to about $42 million.
SU will be seeing a loss of $100,000 in income from the state, said John Hogan, the university’s director of budgeting and planning.
The loss will not affect any particular part of the university specifically because the money is part of the university’s general fund, Hogan said.
Pataki’s proposed budget could affect students statewide who depend on financial aid from the state as a main source of their funding to attend school. In addition to the decrease in Bundy Aid, other financial programs will see decreases, particularly the state’s Tuition Assistance Program, the Higher Education Opportunities Program, Collegiate-Science Technology Entry Program, and Liberty Partnerships.
‘TAP has the most dramatic cut,’ said Jessica Crawford, assistant director of government and community relations at SU.
Students who receive TAP as part of their financial assistance would see a cut of one-third in aid.
In order to make up for this money, students will have to borrow money from outside sources such as loans, Crawford said.
Another state program that is taking a hit is the Higher Education Opportunities Program, which aids in tuition for hundreds of SU students each year. The program will lose $2 million in funds statewide.
The program will have a 5 percent reduction cut in its independent sector, Crawford said.
STEP/C-STEP will see a drop in aid from $10 million to $9.5 million and Liberty Partnerships will lower from $11.5 million to $10.9 million, according to Pataki’s budget.
‘Each of these programs receives less money for scholarships for students,’ Crawford said. ‘It makes it harder on needy students who are financially strapped already to come up with [the extra money].’
Some SU students who depend on state aid to pay for their tuition are not looking forward to a decrease.
‘I definitely would say that students, like me, need [aid] because I know for a fact that without this aid I received, I would not be in college,’ said Gordon Hyppolite, a sophomore computer graphics major.
Hyppolite depends on the Higher Education Opportunities Program for college funding.
If a decrease in aid from HEOP continues through the years, it will make it harder for Hyppolite’s family to find outside sources to meet the standards of the university’s high tuition price.
‘We, as students, will be the ones running businesses [in the future], we will be the ones who become president of the United States, will be the ones to help those in need of assistance – to help lead them to a better life. How can all of this be accomplished if we do not get the education we need to succeed?’ Hyppolite said.
