From Brooklyn to Buffalo, Students Head to Albany with College Aid Message
Students will lobby state legislators on Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Brooklyn, N.Y. – Nearly 500 college students hailing from Brooklyn to Buffalo plan to converge on Albany on Tuesday, March 11, to urge New York state legislators to stand strong for critical higher education programs. The students, enrolled in colleges and universities throughout the state, want to be sure their voices are heard during deliberations over the next state budget.

Ty Christian Joseph, president of the Student Government Association at Long Island University’s Brooklyn Campus, declared, “The Senate and Assembly have been true allies for students in past years, and we need them on our side now.” Commenting before Tuesday’s trip, he noted, “Anyone who will take a bus to Albany to lobby is also very likely to vote on primary and election days.”

Saddled with rising living and tuition costs, the students rely on state help and are seeking increases in key areas like the Tuition Assistance Program, or TAP, and the Higher Education Opportunity Program, known as HEOP. The programs are scheduled respectively for flat and decreased funding under Governor Elliot Spitzer’s proposed budget for FY 2008-09.

TAP is the premiere program supporting higher education for New York State’s lower-, moderate- and middle-income families and this year provides tuition grants to more than 370,000 state residents. HEOP, which assists students with disadvantaged educational and economic backgrounds, continues to obtain above-average graduation rates for its participants.

Students also are calling on the state to provide equal assistance to independent and dependent students; paradoxically, students who are not dependent on parental support are eligible for less state aid.

“This is an investment in future taxpayers." Joseph said, adding, “In these uncertain economic times, students need legislators to stand firm and support higher education.”

The Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities, which represents more than 100 member campuses enrolling 450,000 students across New York State, sponsors the annual lobby day.

Students and staff members are available for interviews. Contact the Brooklyn Campus Public Relations Office at (718) 488-1418 or (917) 673-5423.

Posted: March 11, 2008

Media contact: (718) 488-1015