CUNY to Government: Show Us The Money!

 

By Stephen J. Haynes

Staff Writer

In response to the increasing tuition and books costs, City University heads have entreated New York and Federal government officials to increase funding for the schools, and implored students to do the same.

Last month, CUNY Vice Chancellor Jay Hershenson sent out an e-mail urging students to contact local representatives and request an increase in the Pell Grant award prize from $4,050 to $5,000 next year. He cited that, despite unabated expense increases, there hadn't been a raise in the prize money in over four years.

The e-mails were in conjunction with a letter CUNY Chancellor Matthew Goldstein sent to the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives requesting a $126 million increase in the University's budget for the 2008-2009 fiscal year.

Goldstein would want the bulk of that money - $113.5 million - allocated to the capital and operating budgets of the senior colleges. According to him, the State Executive Budget doesn't provide sufficient funding for CUNY's Master Plan initiatives, which include the hiring of additional faculty, enhancing student services and infrastructure upgrades.

Enrollment at City University is at its highest in 31 years with over 226,000 students, and it's estimated that by 2010, the University will require an additional $529 million to support its expansion.

The "primary need," as described in Goldstein's outline, is $50 million to fund the continued growth of online resources such as the CUNY Portal and Enterprise Resource Planning. In addition, CUNY is calling for $24.2 million to cover potential cost escalations of projects already under construction, including City College's School of Architecture, the Visitors' Center for the Louis Armstrong House Museum at Queens College and Brooklyn College's West Quad building, which had been delayed because of increased construction costs.

The remaining $12.3 million of the total would be spent on the community colleges to increase counseling, child care and services to students with disabilities. Of that sum, $3.3 million would go to replacing a roof and providing back-flow prevention devices in Bronx Community College.

The University is also requesting increases to the Tuition Assistance Program, one of those which is the Pell Grant. Designed to aid undergrads from low-income families, they're given to 4 million students throughout the nation each year.

Eligibility for the award is based on "extreme financial need" with the prize amount ranging from $100 to $4,050 per year, depending on income and the number of classes the student is enrolled in, explained Jessica Brothers, a word-study student in BC's Financial Aid Office.

In his letter, Goldstein wrote: "We recognize and appreciate ongoing Congressional legislation that may increase Pell Grant funding. We also recognize that the budget for [fiscal year 2008] that President Bush recently released calls for similar increases. At CUNY, we appreciate in particular that the President's plan will offer significant funds —an additional $40 million — to our 95,000 students who receive Pell Grants."

The grants, he explained, have lost buying power over the years because of tuition increases and the prices of books. In 1986, a maximum Pell Grant covered close to 60 percent of the average costs of attending a public four-year college in 1986, but in 2006, it covered just 33 percent. The chancellor also asked that future increases to the funding be based on Higher Education Price Index.

"It is important to note that after one year, 90 percent of all CUNY graduates remain in New York State," wrote Hershenson. "After ten years, over 80 percent stay here as taxpaying residents, providing a stable tax base of educated citizens who repay the investment made in their education many times over through a lifetime of taxes paid to state, city, and federal coffers... There is no better time than now to invest in the future of students."