BILL NUMBER: S4884
SPONSOR: GOUNARDES
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the education law, in relation to establishing an emer-
gency aid grant matching program
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To match emergency aid grants provided by SUNY and CUNY campuses
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends the education law by adding a new section 669-i which
does the following:
-Requires that the Higher Education Services Corporation (HESC) estab-
lish an emergency aid grant matching program to match grants provided to
students at SUNY or CUNY; students may be eligible for such grants if
they require financial assistance to cover things such as groceries,
clothing, housing, transportation, child care, medical expenses, etc.
following an unexpected or unforeseen emergency;
-Sets a maximum matching grant amount of $1,250 per student and $62,500
per IHE, allowing these institutions to still access up to a maximum
matching grants under the program if their own grant to an eligible
student exceeds $1,250;
-Stipulates that campuses may create a new emergency grant program
before applying for matching grants or utilize an existing emergency
grant program, so long as it meets HESC requirements;
-Allows SUNY and CUNY campuses to set any additional eligibility
requirements for students receiving these grants, so long as they do not
conflict with HESC requirements;
-Requires HESC to establish any requirements it deems necessary for
campuses to access matching funds, as long as emergency aid grants are
not used to reimburse tuition or fees and are not treated as income for
calculating financial aid or expected student and/or family contrib-
utions; campuses must also demonstrate, to the satisfaction of HESC,
that they are providing additional resources and support to students
experiencing financial distress as the result of an emergency;
-Requires campuses participating in the matching program to annually
submit to HESC relevant data and for HESC to compile this information
and publish an annual report related to emergency aid grants.
Section 2 sets the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Many college students find themselves faced with emergency situations
that require them to choose between affording groceries, rent, health-
care, childcare or their education. This program would support students
facing these difficult choices by helping to cover these critical
expenses, allowing students to stay on track with their degree.
Georgia State University's program, one of the first emergency aid grant
programs in the nation in 2016, was so successful that the Georgia
General Assembly passed legislation to establish the statewide Georgia
College Completion Grant. Meanwhile, a pilot program at six SUNY campus-
es in 2018 provided up to $2,000 per student for necessary expenses
after an emergency. A report on this pilot program found that, of the
students who received these grants, approximately 1800 students or 94
percent of all program participants were either still enrolled or
completed their degree in the semester after their emergency. Addi-
tionally, 80 percent of recipients said that the program made them more
aware of other resources available to support students through such a
situation and 90 percent felt more confident advocating for themselves
and felt a "greater sense of belonging" on campus. The report further
found that campuses gained greater knowledge of the various challenges
facing students trying to juggle their degree with making ends meet and
offered more supports for these students as the pilot program
progressed.
CUNY was also able to establish a small emergency aid program with funds
from the U.S. Department of Education during the pandemic to support
students facing emergency situations, but that funding has since lapsed,
leaving it to individual campuses to establish and maintain their own
programs to support their students in crisis. After the conclusion of
the 2018 SUNY pilot program, the responsibility also fell on individual
campuses to continue this critical initiative.
While some campuses at both SUNY and CUNY have done this successfully,
the funding is often inconsistent and insufficient to support the level
of student need. This bill would ensure that existing campus programs
are able to support their students in covering the full extent of an
emergency situation and to support additional students in need. It would
also help provide a strong financial incentive for the creation of new
emergency aid grant programs at campuses statewide.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New Bill
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
TBD
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to the academic
year next succeeding the date on which it shall have become a law.