ALBANY, NY — SUNY has plans to send out personalized letters to 125,000 graduating New York students outside of New York City, confirming they have been automatically accepted to their local community college to attend this fall, as part of an initiative to remove barriers to education, Gov. Kathy Hochul said Thursday.
SUNY and CUNY administrators will reach out to high school seniors in other new ways, such as providing information enrollment coaching and tutorials, and multiple points of contact to assist with enrolling in college and applying for financial aid, her office said.
Personalized letters to high school seniors and their parents has shown to help students in making their decision to enroll, officials said.
Hochul said, "Access to quality higher education is an engine for social mobility and we are taking comprehensive steps to ensure that college is affordable and accessible for students from all backgrounds."
"My administration remains committed to removing barriers and easing the pathway to higher education for all high school seniors — lifting up students to build a brighter future for themselves and New York," she added.
This coming fall, CUNY will partner with New York City schools to send 65,000 seniors — on pace to graduate — personalized letters welcoming them to CUNY and laying out their options at CUNY and inviting them to submit an application to CUNY.
SUNY and CUNY are also helping students with financial aid questions through tutorials and multiple points of contact. The federal government's Free Application for Federal Student Aid or FASA, available online
here, is open for students to apply.
The state's Excelsior Scholarship application, which opened on May 23, is available online
here, and accepted through August 31, 2023.
In a tweet the governor referred to the plan as "transformative."
"We're committed to removing barriers to higher education and making it more affordable and accessible for students from all backgrounds," the tweet read.
State Department of Education Commissioner Betty Rosa said, "Eliminating barriers to higher education and creating an equitable playing field are critical to supporting all of New York's students."
"The more information that students and families have, the better equipped they are for making the ultimate decisions that put them on their best paths to success," she said.
SUNY Chancellor John King, Jr. said, "There is a place for every New Yorker at SUNY, and we are excited to make college an easy decision because our high school seniors and their parents understand their options."
"High-demand jobs increasingly require a college education, and thanks to New York's generous financial aid offerings, SUNY is an extraordinary value proposition," he said.
CUNY Chancellor Félix Matos Rodríguez said, "More than 80 percent of CUNY freshmen come from New York City public schools and we want to make the transition as smooth as possible."
"That means connecting students before they start at one of our campuses," he said. "CUNY is sending seniors and their families the tools they need to find the right program at the right price. This partnership will increase the number of seniors going to college, enhance New York's workforce and help end systemic inequities.
