S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   3709
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                             January 30, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  TANNOUSIS  --  read once and referred to the
   Committee on Higher Education
 
 AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to TAP awards
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   Section  1.  Subdivisions 1 and 2 of section 667 of the education law,
 subdivision 1 as amended by chapter 622 of the laws of 2008 and subdivi-
 sion 2 as amended by chapter 376 of the laws of  2019,  are  amended  to
 read as follows:
   1.  Recipient  qualifications.  Tuition  assistance program awards are
 available for all students who are enrolled in approved programs and who
 demonstrate the ability to complete such  courses,  in  accordance  with
 standards  established  by  the  commissioner provided, however, that no
 award shall be made unless tuition (exclusive of educational fees)  and,
 if  applicable,  the  college  fee levied by the state university of New
 York pursuant to the April first, nineteen hundred sixty-four  financing
 agreements  with  the New York state dormitory authority charged for the
 program in which the student is enrolled  total  at  least  two  hundred
 dollars  a  year,  and  provided  further  that, no award can exceed one
 hundred percent of the  amount  of  tuition  charged.  NOTHING  IN  THIS
 SECTION,  SECTION  SIX  HUNDRED  SIXTY-ONE  OF  THIS  PART, OR ANY OTHER
 PROVISION OF THIS CHAPTER SHALL BE READ TO EXCLUDE ANY GRADUATE  PROGRAM
 FROM  CLASSIFICATION  BY THE COMMISSIONER AS AN APPROVED PROGRAM FOR THE
 PURPOSES OF THIS SECTION.
   2. Duration. No undergraduate shall be eligible  for  more  than  four
 academic  years of study, or five academic years if the program of study
 normally requires five years. Students enrolled in a program of remedial
 study, approved by the commissioner in an institution of  higher  educa-
 tion and intended to culminate in a degree in undergraduate study shall,
 for  purposes of this section, be considered as enrolled in a program of
 study normally requiring five years. An undergraduate  student  enrolled
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD03798-01-5
              

 A. 3709                             2
 
 in  an  eligible  two year program of study approved by the commissioner
 shall be eligible for no more than three academic years of  study.    NO
 GRADUATE  STUDENT SHALL BE ELIGIBLE FOR MORE THAN FOUR ACADEMIC YEARS OF
 STUDY  PROVIDED, HOWEVER, THAT NO GRADUATE STUDENT SHALL BE ELIGIBLE FOR
 MORE  THAN  ONE  DEGREE  PROGRAM  AT THE MASTER'S, FIRST PROFESSIONAL OR
 DOCTORATE LEVEL. NO STUDENT SHALL BE ELIGIBLE FOR A TOTAL OF  MORE  THAN
 THE  EQUIVALENT  OF  EIGHT  YEARS OF COMBINED UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE
 STUDY. An undergraduate student enrolled in an approved two or four-year
 program of study approved by  the  commissioner  who  must  transfer  to
 another  institution  as  a result of permanent college closure shall be
 eligible for up to two additional semesters, or their equivalent, to the
 extent credits necessary to complete [his or her] THEIR program of study
 were deemed non-transferable from the closed institution or were  deemed
 not  applicable  to  such student's program of study by the new institu-
 tion.   Any semester, quarter, or term  of  attendance  during  which  a
 student  receives any award under this article, after the effective date
 of the former scholar incentive program and prior to academic year nine-
 teen hundred eighty-nine--nineteen  hundred  ninety,  shall  be  counted
 toward the maximum term of eligibility for tuition assistance under this
 section,  except that any semester, quarter or term of attendance during
 which a student received  an  award  pursuant  to  section  six  hundred
 sixty-six  of  this  subpart shall be counted as one-half of a semester,
 quarter or term, as the case may be, toward the maximum term  of  eligi-
 bility  under  this section. Any semester, quarter or term of attendance
 during which a student received an award pursuant to section six hundred
 sixty-seven-a of this subpart shall not be counted  toward  the  maximum
 term of eligibility under this section.
   §  2. Subitem (a) of item 1 of clause (A) of subparagraph (i) of para-
 graph (a) of subdivision 3 of section  667  of  the  education  law,  as
 amended  by  section  1 of part DD of chapter 56 of the laws of 2021, is
 amended to read as follows:
   (a) Five thousand dollars, except starting in two  thousand  fourteen-
 two  thousand  fifteen  such  students  shall  receive five thousand one
 hundred sixty-five dollars, and except starting in two  thousand  [twen-
 ty-one--two  thousand  twenty-two and thereafter] TWENTY-FOUR--TWO THOU-
 SAND TWENTY-FIVE such students shall receive five thousand  six  hundred
 sixty-five  dollars,  EXCEPT  STARTING  IN TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-FIVE--TWO
 THOUSAND TWENTY-SIX AND THEREAFTER SUCH STUDENTS SHALL RECEIVE SIX THOU-
 SAND SIXTY-EIGHT DOLLARS, EXCEPT STARTING IN TWO  THOUSAND  TWENTY-SIX--
 TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-SEVEN AND THEREAFTER SUCH STUDENTS SHALL RECEIVE SIX
 THOUSAND  FOUR  HUNDRED  SEVENTY  DOLLARS, provided however that nothing
 herein shall be construed as increasing any award made pursuant to  this
 section for an academic year prior to two thousand twenty-one--two thou-
 sand twenty-two; or
   §  3. Subparagraph (ii) of paragraph a of subdivision 3 of section 667
 of the education law is amended by adding a  new  closing  paragraph  to
 read as follows:
   PROVIDED, HOWEVER, STARTING IN TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-THREE--TWO THOUSAND
 TWENTY-FOUR  AND THEREAFTER THE AMOUNT OF INCOME SHALL BE EIGHTEEN THOU-
 SAND DOLLARS OR MORE, BUT NO MORE THAN  ONE  HUNDRED  THOUSAND  DOLLARS.
 PROVIDED,  HOWEVER,  STARTING  IN TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-FIVE--TWO THOUSAND
 TWENTY-SIX AND THEREAFTER THE AMOUNT OF INCOME SHALL BE  EIGHTEEN  THOU-
 SAND DOLLARS OR MORE, BUT NO MORE THAN ONE HUNDRED TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS.
 PROVIDED,  HOWEVER,  STARTING  IN  TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-SIX--TWO THOUSAND
 TWENTY-SEVEN AND THEREAFTER THE AMOUNT OF INCOME SHALL BE EIGHTEEN THOU-
 A. 3709                             3
 
 SAND DOLLARS OR MORE, BUT NO MORE THAN ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-FIVE  THOUSAND
 DOLLARS.
   § 4. Subparagraph (iii) of paragraph a of subdivision 3 of section 667
 of  the  education  law  is amended by adding a new closing paragraph to
 read as follows:
   PROVIDED, HOWEVER, STARTING IN TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-FIVE--TWO  THOUSAND
 TWENTY-SIX  AND  THEREAFTER THE AMOUNT OF INCOME SHALL BE EIGHTEEN THOU-
 SAND DOLLARS OR MORE, BUT NO MORE THAN  ONE  HUNDRED  THOUSAND  DOLLARS.
 PROVIDED,  HOWEVER,  STARTING  IN  TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-SIX--TWO THOUSAND
 TWENTY-SEVEN AND THEREAFTER THE AMOUNT OF INCOME SHALL BE EIGHTEEN THOU-
 SAND DOLLARS OR MORE, BUT NO MORE THAN ONE HUNDRED TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS.
 PROVIDED, HOWEVER, STARTING IN TWO THOUSAND  TWENTY-SEVEN--TWO  THOUSAND
 TWENTY-EIGHT AND THEREAFTER THE AMOUNT OF INCOME SHALL BE EIGHTEEN THOU-
 SAND  DOLLARS OR MORE, BUT NO MORE THAN ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-FIVE THOUSAND
 DOLLARS.
   § 5. Paragraph c of subdivision 3 of section 667 of the education law,
 as relettered by section 2 of part J of chapter 58 of the laws of  2011,
 is  relettered  paragraph  d  and  new  paragraph  c is added to read as
 follows:
   C. AMOUNT. THE PRESIDENT SHALL MAKE AWARDS TO GRADUATE STUDENTS IN THE
 FOLLOWING AMOUNTS:
   (I) FOR EACH YEAR OF GRADUATE STUDY, ASSISTANCE SHALL BE  PROVIDED  AS
 COMPUTED  ON  THE BASIS OF THE AMOUNT WHICH IS THE LESSER OF THE FOLLOW-
 ING: (A) FIVE HUNDRED FIFTY DOLLARS; OR (B) NINETY PERCENT OF THE AMOUNT
 OF TUITION (EXCLUSIVE OF EDUCATION FEES) CHARGED,
   (II) EXCEPT FOR STUDENTS AS NOTED IN SUBPARAGRAPH (III) OF THIS  PARA-
 GRAPH,  THE  BASE AMOUNT AS DETERMINED IN SUBPARAGRAPH (I) OF THIS PARA-
 GRAPH, SHALL BE REDUCED IN RELATION TO INCOME AS FOLLOWS:
 
 AMOUNT OF INCOME                    SCHEDULE OF REDUCTION OF
                                     BASE AMOUNT
 (A) LESS THAN TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS  NONE
 (B) TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS OR MORE    SEVEN AND SEVEN-TENTHS PER
     BUT NOT MORE THAN TWENTY        CENTUM OF THE EXCESS OVER
     THOUSAND DOLLARS                TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS
 
   (III) FOR STUDENTS WHO HAVE BEEN GRANTED EXCLUSION OF PARENTAL  INCOME
 AND  WERE  SINGLE  WITH NO DEPENDENTS FOR INCOME TAX PURPOSES DURING THE
 TAX YEAR NEXT PRECEDING THE ACADEMIC YEAR FOR WHICH APPLICATION IS MADE,
 THE BASE AMOUNT AS DETERMINED IN SUBPARAGRAPH  (I)  OF  THIS  PARAGRAPH,
 SHALL BE REDUCED IN RELATION TO INCOME AS FOLLOWS:
 
 AMOUNT OF INCOME                    SCHEDULE OF REDUCTION OF BASE
                                     AMOUNT
 (A) LESS THAN ONE THOUSAND          NONE
     DOLLARS
 (B) ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS OR         TWENTY-SIX PER CENTUM OF THE
     MORE, BUT NOT MORE THAN         EXCESS OVER ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS
     FIVE THOUSAND SIX
     HUNDRED SIXTY-SIX DOLLARS
 
   (IV)  IF  THE  AMOUNT  OF REDUCTION IS NOT A WHOLE DOLLAR, IT SHALL BE
 REDUCED TO THE NEXT LOWEST WHOLE DOLLAR.
   (V) THE AWARD SHALL BE THE NET AMOUNT OF THE  BASE  AMOUNT  DETERMINED
 PURSUANT  TO  SUBPARAGRAPH (II) OR (III) OF THIS PARAGRAPH BUT THE AWARD
 SHALL NOT BE REDUCED BELOW SEVENTY-FIVE DOLLARS. IF THE  INCOME  EXCEEDS
 A. 3709                             4
 
 THE  MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF INCOME ALLOWABLE UNDER SUBPARAGRAPH (II) OR (III)
 OF THIS PARAGRAPH, NO AWARD SHALL BE MADE.
   § 6. Paragraph a, the opening paragraph of subparagraph 1 of paragraph
 b  and paragraph d of subdivision 3 of section 663 of the education law,
 paragraph a as amended by section 4, the opening paragraph  of  subpara-
 graph  1  of  paragraph  b  as  amended  by section 5 and paragraph d as
 amended by section 6 of part J of chapter 58 of the laws  of  2011,  are
 amended to read as follows:
   a.  In determining the amount of an award for GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADU-
 ATE students, the income of the parents shall be excluded if the student
 has been emancipated from [his] THEIR parents.
   The applicant is a student who was married on or before December thir-
 ty-first of the calendar year prior to the  beginning  of  the  academic
 year  for  which  application is made or is an undergraduate student who
 has reached the age of twenty-two on or before June thirtieth  prior  to
 the academic year for which application is made OR IS A GRADUATE STUDENT
 and  who,  during the calendar year next preceding the semester, quarter
 or term of attendance for which application is made  and  at  all  times
 subsequent  thereto  up  to  and  including  the entire period for which
 application is made:
   d. Any GRADUATE OR undergraduate student who was  allowed  to  exclude
 parental  income  pursuant to the provisions of FORMER subdivision three
 of section six hundred three of this chapter as they  existed  prior  to
 July  first,  nineteen hundred seventy-four may continue to exclude such
 income for so long  as  [he]  SUCH  GRADUATE  OR  UNDERGRADUATE  STUDENT
 continues to comply with such provisions.
   § 7. This act shall take effect immediately.