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New York State is in the first year of its two-year legislative cycle, and 2025 has included significant steps forward for students across the state. The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS) identified key policy priorities this year—ranging from affordability and access to accountability, student borrower protections, basic needs, and data transparency. Since January, over 100 student-centered higher education-related bills have been introduced—many of which align with TICAS’ policy focus and promise meaningful benefits for students.
The 2025 legislative session made incremental but meaningful progress in ensuring that New York’s higher education system becomes more equitable and addresses the needs of today’s students. Key themes included improving access for adult learners, fortifying support for college completion programs, and increasing transparency. While several impactful bills passed both houses and await the Governor’s signature, others that passed only one chamber signal legislative priorities for 2026. The following is a breakdown of key developments by category.
Affordability
The centerpiece of affordability efforts in 2025 is Governor Hochul’s New York State Opportunity Promise Scholarship, a new state financial aid program included in the 2025-26 Enacted State Budget. The scholarship covers tuition, fees, books, and supplies for adult learners ages 25–55 with no prior degree, attending community colleges within the City University of New York (CUNY) and State University of New York (SUNY) systems. Unlike other states, however, such as Massachusetts, Michigan, and Tennessee, New York restricts scholarships to high-demand degree fields, which may ultimately hamper participation and limit its impact on workforce development. Legislation has already been introduced to expand scholarship eligibility to all SUNY and CUNY institutions offering two-year degrees.
Two Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) bills also received attention this session, passing in the Senate: A508/ S3779 extends TAP eligibility from four to six years, and A5320/S27 makes TAP accessible to students experiencing homelessness under the federal McKinney-Vento Act. Additional TAP bills that would make college more affordable for the lowest-income students saw no movement—A5539/S1732 raises income thresholds to receive maximum TAP awards from $7,000 to $18,000 net taxable income, and S1498 eliminates disparities for independent students. Three separate proposals to extend TAP to graduate students were introduced, with one passing the Senate.
Additionally, the Excelsior Scholarship award was increased to match the SUNY resident tuition rate ($7,070) through the state budget bill. The Senate passed A7938/ S6155A to protect student eligibility for the scholarship if their income increases slightly (up to three percent of their adjusted gross income) after initial qualification. Other pending bills propose to extend Excelsior to part-time students (A5063/S5653) and allow for the scholarship to go towards non-tuition costs (A5358).
A modest but important final affordability measure that was introduced, A7053A/ S7580A, allows unused academic excellence scholarships, declined before a student finishes high school, to be reallocated to the next most qualified student.
College Completion
For the first time, the state budget included $12 million in dedicated funding to SUNY for Advancing Success in Associate Pathways (ASAP) and Advancing Completion through Engagement (ACE). CUNY also received $8 million in continued funding for these programs. ASAP and ACE are nationally recognized college completion programs that provide students with academic, financial, and personal support. The budget also provides continued funding for the Education Opportunity Program, another popular program supporting students with economic and academic challenges to stay on track to graduation.
Access and Transparency
The legislature passed (A3464/S4200) to require financial aid award letters to add the net costs of college, defined as the estimate of the costs of attendance after financial grant aid, and options for loans that require repayment. Measures governing publishers of printed instructional materials for college students with disabilities set to sunset in 2026 were extended for an additional three years (until 2029) as well (A7442/S7702).
Two additional bills passed in the Senate but not in the Assembly: A5658/ S378 requires the NYS Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) to create and display pamphlets, posters, and other outreach materials regarding higher education funding opportunities for foster youth, and A4897/ S3738, requires the Higher Education Services Corporation (HESC) to make determinations of financial aid, awards, and loans within 60 days of the date of receipt of an application, allowing for a 30-day extension if necessary.
Another significant development was HESC’s creation of an Alternate Eligibility Path to access TAP funds. While not a legislative change, this pathway allows students who are citizens but have privacy concerns about filing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) because of family members’ immigration status to still apply for TAP.
Accountability
TICAS’ top accountability priority was amending NY General Business Law sec. 349 to ban unfair and abusive practices. The Fostering Affordability and Integrity through Reasonable Business Practices (FAIR) Act, A8427A/ S8416, passed both chambers but with considerable amendments weakening its protections. The bill prohibits unfair and abusive practices, but limits enforcement to the Office of the Attorney General (OAG), leaving consumers without the ability to file lawsuits to redress actions beyond deceptive conduct and failing to increase damages from just $50 per violation.
Basic Needs
In response to concerns raised by students, a few notable bills have been introduced to address students’ basic needs, although none moved out of committee this session. Two bills would alleviate food insecurity: A1724/S2637, the “Hunger Free Campus Act,” grants funding to SUNY and CUNY to help students, and A4218/S2059 proposes free or reduced meal plans. Two bills address mental health concerns: A832/S8165 establishes counselor ratios, and A4912A establishes the College Student Suicide Prevention Act and the Emergency Aid Grant Matching Program. A6641/S4884 increases funding available to students for basic needs on state campuses.
Data Collection
A major data reform from 2024 was amended in early 2025 to scale back reporting requirements.
Chapter 15 of the Laws of NY 2025 revised loan-level reporting to the NYS Department of Financial Services (DFS) to aggregate-level data and narrowed reporting responsibilities to private student loan servicers. A8067A/ S7752A was passed later in the session by both houses to extend reporting requirements to private nonprofit postsecondary providers of higher education which service student loans.
Governor Hochul noted plans for a Statewide Longitudinal Data System in her 2025 State of the State to track student pathways across educational levels. While not legislated, development is ongoing within the New York State Education Department.
Consumer Protection and Debt Collection
Three consumer protection bills passed both houses this session that could significantly impact students. A1316/ S3072 prohibits the use of consumer credit history in hiring, employment decisions, and licensing, with limited exceptions, such as for police officers, positions requiring security clearance, jobs with access to trade secrets or intelligence information, or positions having oversight of third-party funds. The second bill, A3038A/ S1353B, protects borrowers, including co-signors, by prohibiting the enforcement of debts incurred as the result of fraud, duress, intimidation, threat, force, ID theft, exploitation, or abuse. The third bill, A804C/ S1104A, raises concerns for consumer advocates protective of New York’s usury limits, allowing consumer litigation funding transactions to collect fees up to 25 percent of the gross proceeds of the settlement or award.
The “Consumer Debt Uniformity Act” (CDUA), A57B/ S5546A passed the Assembly but not the Senate. The bill amends various provisions of state law, replacing the term “consumer credit transactions” with “consumer debt” to create uniformity and end confusion regarding the applicability of notice requirements, statutes of limitations, and consumer protections. In the context of higher education, the bill would unify debt collection provisions relating to student loans and student debt.
In an effort to reduce institutional debt—debt owed by students directly to their institutions, A705A and S78 were introduced to give students greater notice regarding the school’s tuition liability policies. The Senate bill passed, requiring written and electronic notice to be provided throughout the academic year with acknowledgement of receipt by each student. The Assembly’s bill limits notice to one electronic communication with no receipt acknowledgement and did not pass.
Workforce Development Programs
Every year, bills are introduced aimed at increasing diversity in education, as well as workforce development to incentivize students to go into high-demand fields by offering academic credit, tuition assistance, scholarships, or loan forgiveness. The following four bills passed in the Senate this year: A5777/S519 creates the Underrepresented Teachers of Tomorrow Teacher Recruitment and Retention Program to provide “underrepresented schools” awards up to $10,000 per year to reimburse teachers for educational costs, including student loans; A4679A/S7367A grants volunteer firefighters and emergency medical technicians free academic credit at SUNY and CUNY colleges; A6504/S2067 requires SUNY and CUNY to establish a veteran career assistance program, including resume writing and career placement services; A2339/S5339 creates a loan repayment program for dentists practicing in underserved areas.
Looking Ahead
Looking ahead to 2026, the Legislature will need to assess the impact of federal changes enacted through H.R. 1 and any further appropriations bills. For higher education, some students’ eligibility for the Pell Grant may be impacted although the bigger change will be the expansion of Pell Grants to be used for very short-term job training programs, one that will require careful oversight and development to avoid an eruption of shoddy, predatory programs. Student federal loan repayment options will change significantly, causing not only confusion but financial hardship for many borrowers. Changes in SNAP and Medicaid will exacerbate food and housing insecurities of students, and changes in federal lending limits will compel more students into the private lending market.
A top priority for New York should include increasing state aid for the lowest income students to ensure New York maintains equity in higher education and continues to increase enrollment. The State should also look to shoring up student protections against predatory private student loans, sham schools, unfair servicing practices, and attacks on their privacy. Greater public awareness of existing state-level programs available to assist students and borrowers is critical, as well.
There is a lot coming at higher education right now, with leadership waning on the federal level, the loss of oversight and enforcement by the U.S. Department of Education and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and considerably less person-power within the Department to assist students and borrowers. New York will need to step up in the next year—and years to come—to continue to make strides towards an equitable and educated citizenry that can meet the state’s workforce demands.
More detailed information regarding bills that passed one or both houses referenced in this blog post can be found in the fact sheet linked below.
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