Cutting TAP Funding

ALBANY, NY (01/20/2010)– which represents 26 accredited, degree-granting colleges throughout New York, urged the Legislature to reject the governor’s proposed cuts to the state’s vital Tuition Assistance Program.

Governor Paterson on Tuesday released his proposed 2010-11 Executive Budget, which included proposals to reduce all TAP awards by $75 and cut the maximum TAP award for all students in two-year degree programs from $5,000 to $4,000.

Where will students find college funding?

TAP funds are available to income-qualified students who would otherwise not be able to afford and attend college. The governor’s actions mean college will not be an option for many of New York’s neediest students, primarily those who have the academic qualifications to attend college, but not the financial means. Additionally, APC questioned the rationale for cutting funding for two-year students only. These students must be supported because they earn degrees and find quality jobs more quickly.

“The governor is saying ‘no’ to students who have the will and the grades for college, but lack the funds. TAP funds are investments in New Yorkers, helping the state’s most needy students achieve the dream of attending college and launching a rewarding career,” said Stephen Jerome, APC president and president of Monroe College in the Bronx and New Rochelle. “We know the governor agrees that an educated population is important to New York’s future economic vitality. However, any reductions in TAP funding work against that belief. With TAP and a degree, students become earners and taxpayers, and therefore part of the state’s economic solution. TAP is a smart investment in New York’s future.”

The Association of Proprietary Colleges represents 26 tax-paying, degree-granting colleges located on 39 campuses across New York. Proprietary colleges are one of the four sectors of higher education in New York. APC Colleges offer degrees in more than 60 associate, bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral programs, including business, health care, hospitality management, graphic arts and technology.

Permalink: http://readme.readmedia.com/Governors-TAP-Cuts-Target-New-Yorks-Most-Financially-Needy-Students/1056307

How does this effect HEOP?

HEOP is funded through several funding programs. One of the big and long time supporting funding program is TAP (Tuition Assistant Program). Tap generally provides up to $4000 in scholarship for students (based on academic year). Depending on what the tuition is for the institution, this could be a huge chunk of funding that a student can get. Since HEOP has already faced much cutbacks from the funding, how much more cuts could they really handle? There have been rumors that several HEOP institutions are now cutting down the number of accepted and incoming students from 40 to 15. That a cut back of 62.5%. If the government does cut more funding, that number might decrease even more. Eventually, there will be barely any funding left for any institute to have the Higher Education Opportunity Program.

How to help stop the funding cuts

Below is an e-mail I received from Deborah M. Stendardi Vice President of Government & Community Relations at the Rochester Institute of Technology with some ways students can help fight this budget cut.

The recently released proposed State Budget for FY 2011 by Governor David Paterson includes a $75 cut in Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) awards for every student who benefits from this program to help them meet their tuition costs.  While this may not seem as dramatic a cut as we have been faced with in some previous years, the impact on individual students is nevertheless significant, particularly in light of the challenging economic circumstances facing many of our students and their families.  Moreover, State funding for the Tuition Assistance Program has stagnated for the past ten years, while the federal government is increasing its commitment to students.  We believe that it is critical for New York State to continue to invest in and maintain its commitment to its future workforce by sustaining TAP at its current funding levels.   More than 3,500 RIT students receive $8 million in TAP support, making this program one of the key foundations in making an RIT education affordable for low and middle income New York State students.

We encourage members of the RIT campus community (faculty, staff, students, alumni and friends) to make your voices heard and to encourage your elected State officials to reject the Governor’s proposed cut in TAP.  You can do so easily by linking to the following website:  http://capwiz.com/cicu/home/, and clicking on the box that says “take action”.   Key messages that you might considering including are:

• The proposed cut in TAP would hurt students and families who are already struggling due to the economy;
• The State’s investment in TAP is an investment in our future workforce at a time when it is critically important to keep and retain our students and our graduates in New York State;
• The TAP cuts would have a disproportionately harmful impact on economically and educationally disadvantaged students, such as those enrolled in HEOP, who have already been impacted by prior year cuts in that program
• As a taxpayer and voter, you believe that higher education access should be a top priority even in light of the difficult choices and decisions that the State has to make this year;
• Finally, any personal experience you may have with the TAP program and/or the impact that the program has had on RIT students would be important to include.