{"id":4209,"date":"2022-03-03T16:05:12","date_gmt":"2022-03-03T21:05:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/?p=4209"},"modified":"2022-03-08T17:31:22","modified_gmt":"2022-03-08T22:31:22","slug":"gov-hochuls-budget-extends-tap-to-part-time-students-prisoners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/2022\/03\/gov-hochuls-budget-extends-tap-to-part-time-students-prisoners\/","title":{"rendered":"Gov. Hochul’s Budget Extends TAP to Part-Time Students, Prisoners"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Part-time students and people in prison will now qualify for New York State\u2019s Tuition Assistance Program thanks to Governor Kathy Hochul\u2019s executive budget for 2023 which includes $150 million for part-timers and prisoners applying for TAP.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This \u201cmeans more students won\u2019t have to choose between work and getting their degree,\u201d Gov. Hochul said in her <\/span>explainer video<\/span><\/a> for the 2023 budget.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

According to this report, at least 81% of part-time CUNY students are employed while taking classes. And 58% of those work 35 hours per week or more, according to the <\/span>Center for an Urban Future<\/span><\/a>. They discovered that most of CUNY\u2019s part-time students come from households earning $30,000 per year or less.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The same report found less than 1% of CUNY\u2019s part-time community college students have received TAP in the past. Nearly 5% of part-time students at CUNY received Aid for Part Time Study, a companion program from the Higher Education Services Corporation which administers TAP.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As a previous student of CUNY who is now in public relations and communications, Naomi Lynn<\/span> appreciates what TAP means for part-time students.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEducation and training unlocks opportunities for students and their families,\u201d said Lynn. \u201cI\u2019m proof of that.\u201d\u00a0 She attributes the economic opportunity of working in her new field at a new level of income to TAP.<\/span><\/p>\n

Expanding TAP means that students who can\u2019t afford a college degree will be able to get one, and it will take some of the pressure off of those who need to work to afford it. Part-time study allows students time for family obligations and extracurriculars alongside their work.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m glad I completed the college program in its entirety! That wouldn\u2019t have been possible if I didn\u2019t receive my initial award of TAP,\u201d said Lynn.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

According to Zeke Luger, a part-time student for 10 years, there\u2019s a way to game the system by enrolling in four or five classes full-time and committing to failing a few in order to qualify for TAP when they only have time for part-time classes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis would be amazing for students who work full time,\u201d said Luger. \u201cMost are forced to attempt five classes each semester, fail a few, and then eventually run out of TAP before they graduate.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

This is the first time part-time students can qualify for the grant. The governor\u2019s office estimates this will mean an additional 75,000 students will qualify for aid.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone comes into school counting on graduating within four years, and blames themselves when they don\u2019t,\u201d said Luger. But the truth is only one out of every four students graduate within four years at Queens College.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Overall, CUNY has a four-year graduation rate of 30%, according to a <\/span>state audit.<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“There are tons of students that would be able to stay in college,\u201d said Jen Gaboury, the chair of Hunter\u2019s chapter of the CUNY Professional Staff Congress, which represents CUNY faculty and staff.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Before the 2023 executive budget, students needed full-time status at 12 credits per semester or eight credits per trimester. Once the state implements the 2023 budget in July, students can get part-time TAP if taking less credits in a given term.<\/span><\/p>\n

Since its inception, TAP has granted assistance to independent, dependent and married students, with varying degrees of income qualification and award amounts. In the 1975-76 school year, CUNY started charging tuition for matriculated day-session undergraduate students. Over the next few years the Higher Education Services Corporation that runs TAP made it easier and easier to qualify for it as a financially independent or dependent student with low enough income.<\/span><\/p>\n

The expansion of TAP will also go to people in prison as part of the governor\u2019s Jails to Jobs initiative.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to John Jay College\u2019s <\/span>Prison Reentry Institute<\/span><\/a>, prisoners have not been eligible for TAP or Pell grants since 1995. The loss of funding that year caused an 86% drop in enrollment in college-in-prison programs. There are currently programs in 25 New York State prisons.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2017, 1,317 prisoners were enrolled in college\u20132.5% of all prisoners in New York State. The governor\u2019s office expects those numbers to go up with the expansion of TAP.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to the governor\u2019s research, correctional education programs reduce repeated offenses <\/span>by 43%<\/span><\/a>. Taxpayers save $5 for every dollar invested in such initiatives.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we pay attention to the issues of student success and student retention, that to me is one of the most transforming things and really shows the people around the governor were really paying attention,\u201d Gaboury said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Stakeholders have until April 1 to influence the budget.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThis would be amazing for students who work full time,\u201d said Luger. \u201cMost are forced to attempt five classes each semester, fail a few, and then eventually run out of TAP before they graduate.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":104,"featured_media":4228,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[15,471,470,468,469,270],"class_list":["post-4209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-cuny","tag-executive-budget","tag-governor-hochul","tag-part-time","tag-prisoners","tag-tap"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/104"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4209"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4209\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4246,"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4209\/revisions\/4246"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4228"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}