§ 667-D — Enhanced tuition awards

§ 667-d. Enhanced tuition awards. 1. Recipient qualifications. a.\nEstablishment. Enhanced tuition awards are available for students who\nare enrolled in approved programs in private degree granting\ninstitutions of higher education except those institutions set forth in\nparagraph b of subdivision four of section six hundred sixty-one of this\npart and who demonstrate the ability to complete such courses, in\naccordance with standards established by the commissioner; provided,\nthat, no award shall exceed one hundred percent of the amount of tuition\ncharged.\n b. Application for other awards. A student who would be eligible for a\ntuition assistance program award pursuant to section six hundred\nsixty-seven of this subpart and/or a federal Pell grant pursuant to\nsection one thousand seventy of title twenty of the United States code,\net. seq., is required to apply for each such award. Any award shall be\napplied to tuition after the application of payments received under the\ntuition assistance program pursuant to section six hundred sixty-seven\nof this subpart.\n c. GPA requirements. Notwithstanding paragraph c of subdivision four\nof section six hundred sixty-one of this part, a school shall certify\nthat a recipient has achieved a grade point average necessary for\nsuccessful completion of his or her coursework to receive payment under\nthe award.\n d. Credit requirements. An award shall be made to an applicant who:\n(i) if enrolled in (A) a private degree granting institution of higher\neducation prior to application, has completed at least thirty combined\ncredits per year following the student's start date, or its equivalent,\napplicable to his or her program or programs of study or (B) a public\ndegree granting institution of higher education prior to application,\nhas completed at least thirty combined credits per year following the\nstudent's start date, or its equivalent, applicable to his or her\nprogram or programs of study and which were accepted upon transfer to a\nprivate degree granting institution of higher education; (ii) enrolls in\nat least twelve credits per semester and completes at least thirty\ncombined credits per year following the student's start date, or its\nequivalent, applicable to his or her program or programs of study except\nin limited circumstances as prescribed by the corporation in regulation.\nNotwithstanding, in the student's last semester, the student may take at\nleast one course needed to meet his or her graduation requirements and\nenroll in and complete at least twelve credit hours or its equivalent.\nFor students who are disabled as defined by the Americans With\nDisabilities Act of 1990, 42 USC 12101, the corporation shall prescribe\nrules and regulations that allow applicants who are disabled to be\neligible for an award pursuant to this section based on modified\ncriteria.\n e. Notwithstanding paragraph d of this subdivision, a student who\notherwise satisfies all of the requirements under this section but fails\nto complete at least thirty combined credits, or its equivalent,\napplicable to his or her program or programs of study in any year shall\nbe eligible to receive an award payment for the first semester of such\nyear, provided however, the student shall be ineligible for any further\npayments under this section.\n f. Additional requirements. A recipient shall agree to reside\nexclusively in New York state, and shall not be employed in any other\nstate, for a continuous number of years equal to the duration of the\naward received within six months of receipt of his or her final award\npayment, and sign a contract with the corporation to have his or her\nfull award converted to a student loan according to a schedule to be\ndetermined by the corporation if such student fails to fulfill this\nrequirement. The terms and conditions of this paragraph may, as\nestablished by the rules and regulations of the corporation, be\ndeferred: (i) to complete undergraduate study; or (ii) to attend\ngraduate school on at least a half-time basis. Any obligation to comply\nwith such provisions as outlined in this paragraph may be cancelled upon\nthe death of the recipient. Notwithstanding any provisions of this\nparagraph to the contrary, the corporation is authorized to promulgate\nrules and regulations to provide for the waiver or suspension of any\nfinancial obligation which would involve extreme hardship.\n g. Failure to meet the conditions of the award shall not otherwise\ndisqualify a student's eligibility to receive an award under section six\nhundred sixty-seven of this subpart.\n 2. Duration. No undergraduate shall be eligible for more than four\nacademic years of study, or five academic years if the program of study\nnormally requires five years. An undergraduate student enrolled in an\neligible two-year program approved by the commissioner shall be eligible\nfor no more than two academic years. Under no circumstances shall a\nstudent receive an award for a two-year program for more than two\nconsecutive years of academic study or four consecutive semesters of\nacademic study; or at a four or five-year program, for more than four\nconsecutive years or eight consecutive semesters of academic study or\nfive consecutive years, or ten consecutive semesters of study if the\nprogram normally requires five years. Notwithstanding, such duration may\nbe extended for an allowable interruption of study including, but not\nlimited to, death of a family member, medical leave, military service,\nand parental leave, as established by the corporation in regulation.\n 3. Income. An award shall be made to an applicant who has an adjusted\ngross income for the qualifying year, as such terms are defined in this\nsubdivision, equal to or less than: (i) one hundred thousand dollars for\nrecipients receiving an award in the two thousand seventeen--two\nthousand eighteen academic year; (ii) one hundred ten thousand dollars\nfor recipients receiving an award in the two thousand eighteen--two\nthousand nineteen academic year; and (iii) one hundred twenty-five\nthousand dollars for recipients receiving an award in the two thousand\nnineteen--two thousand twenty academic year and thereafter. Adjusted\ngross income shall be the total of the combined adjusted gross income of\nthe applicant and the applicant's parents or the applicant and the\napplicant's spouse, if married. Qualifying year shall be the adjusted\ngross income as reported on the federal income tax return, or as\notherwise obtained by the corporation, for the calendar year coinciding\nwith the tax year established by the U.S. department of education to\nqualify applicants for federal student financial aid programs authorized\nby Title IV of the Higher Education Act of nineteen hundred sixty-five,\nas amended, for the school year in which application for assistance is\nmade. Provided, however, if an applicant demonstrates to the corporation\nthat there has been a change in such applicant's adjusted gross income\nin the year or years subsequent to the qualifying year which would\nqualify such applicant for an award, the corporation shall review and\nmake a determination as to whether such applicant meets the requirement\nset forth in this subdivision based on such year. Provided, further that\nsuch change was caused by the death, permanent and total physical or\nmental disability, divorce, or separation by judicial decree or pursuant\nto an agreement of separation which is filed with a court of competent\njurisdiction of any person whose income was required to be used to\ncompute the applicant's total adjusted gross income.\n 4. Amount. Within the amounts appropriated therefor and based on\navailability of funds, awards shall be granted beginning with the two\nthousand seventeen--two thousand eighteen academic year and thereafter\nto applicants that the corporation has determined are eligible to\nreceive such awards. Recipients of an award under this program shall\nreceive six thousand dollars through a combination of the enhanced\ntuition award plus a student's tuition assistance program award pursuant\nto section six hundred sixty-seven of this subpart plus the\ninstitution's matching award pursuant to subdivision five of this\nsection. Provided, however, any institution that charges tuition that is\nreduced by greater than fifteen percent from the level of tuition\ncharged six years prior to the academic year in which the award is to be\napplied shall be exempt from the requirement to provide such match and\nstudents attending such institutions shall receive an enhanced tuition\naward without such institutional match.\n 5. Matching awards. Commencing with the two thousand seventeen--two\nthousand eighteen academic year and thereafter, participating\ninstitutions shall credit each recipient's remaining tuition expenses in\nan amount equal to the recipient's award under this section. Provided,\nhowever that any institution that charges tuition that is reduced by\ngreater than fifteen percent from the level of tuition charged six years\nprior to the academic year in which the award is to be applied shall be\nexempt from the requirement to provide such match, and shall remain\nexempt from providing such match to such recipient in any academic year\nin which such recipient receives an award under this section.\n 6. Tuition. The rate of tuition charged to an individual receiving an\naward shall not be increased for the duration of time that such\nindividual receives an award.\n 7. College option. An institution may choose not to participate in the\nprogram and students attending any non-participating college may still\nbe eligible to receive an award pursuant to section six hundred\nsixty-seven of this subpart.\n 8. Recipient selection. The president may establish: a. an application\ndeadline and b. a method of selecting recipients if in any given year\nthere are insufficient funds to cover the needs of all the applicants\nprovided that priority shall be given to eligible applicants who are\ncurrently in attendance at an institution of higher education.\n 9. Rules and regulations. The corporation is authorized to promulgate\nrules and regulations, and may promulgate emergency regulations,\nnecessary for the implementation of the provisions of this section\nincluding, but not limited to, the criteria for distributing the awards,\nwhich may include a lottery or other form of random selection.\n