§ 669-H — Excelsior scholarship

§ 669-h. Excelsior scholarship. 1. Eligibility. An excelsior\nscholarship award shall be made to an applicant who: (a) is matriculated\nin an approved program leading to an undergraduate degree at a New York\nstate public institution of higher education; (b) if enrolled in (i) a\npublic institution of higher education prior to application, has\ncompleted 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 or (ii) an institution of higher education\nprior to application, has completed at least thirty combined credits per\nyear following the student's start date, or its equivalent, applicable\nto his or her program or programs of study and which were accepted upon\ntransfer to a public institution of higher education; (c) enrolls in at\nleast twelve credits per semester and completes 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 except in limited\ncircumstances 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; (d) has an adjusted gross income for the qualifying year, as\nsuch terms are defined in this subdivision, equal to or less than: (i)\none hundred thousand dollars for recipients receiving an award in the\ntwo thousand seventeen--two thousand eighteen academic year; (ii) one\nhundred ten thousand dollars for recipients receiving an award in the\ntwo thousand eighteen--two thousand nineteen academic year; and (iii)\none hundred twenty-five thousand dollars for recipients receiving an\naward in the two thousand nineteen--two thousand twenty academic year\nand thereafter; and (e) complies with the applicable provisions of this\narticle and all requirements promulgated by the corporation for the\nadministration of the program. Adjusted gross income shall be the total\nof the combined adjusted gross income of the applicant and the\napplicant's parents or the applicant and the applicant's spouse, if\nmarried. Qualifying year shall be the adjusted gross income as reported\non the federal income tax return, or as otherwise obtained by the\ncorporation, for the calendar year coinciding with the tax year\nestablished by the U.S. department of education to qualify applicants\nfor federal student financial aid programs authorized by Title IV of the\nHigher Education Act of nineteen hundred sixty-five, as amended, for the\nschool year in which application for assistance is made. Provided,\nhowever, if an applicant demonstrates to the corporation that there has\nbeen a change in such applicant's adjusted gross income in the year(s)\nsubsequent to the qualifying year which would qualify such applicant for\nan award, the corporation shall review and make a determination as to\nwhether such applicant meets the requirement set forth in paragraph (d)\nof this subdivision based on such year. Provided, further that such\nchange was caused by the death, permanent and total physical or mental\ndisability, divorce, or separation by judicial decree or pursuant to an\nagreement 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 2. Amount. Within amounts appropriated therefor and based on\navailability of funds, awards shall be granted to applicants that the\ncorporation has determined are eligible to receive such awards. The\ncorporation shall grant such awards in an amount up to actual tuition;\nprovided, however, (a) a student who receives educational grants and/or\nscholarships that cover the student's full cost of attendance shall not\nbe eligible for an award under this program; and (b) an award under this\nprogram shall be applied to tuition after the application of payments\nreceived under the tuition assistance program pursuant to section six\nhundred sixty-seven of this subpart, tuition credits pursuant to section\nsix hundred eighty-nine-a of this article, federal Pell grant pursuant\nto section one thousand seventy of title twenty of the United States\ncode, et seq., and any other program that covers the cost of attendance\nunless exclusively for non-tuition expenses, and the award under this\nprogram shall be reduced in the amount equal to such payments, provided\nthat the combined benefits do not exceed the resident undergraduate\ntuition charged by the state university of New York.\n 3. Duration. An eligible recipient shall not receive an award for more\nthan four academic years of full-time undergraduate study or five\nacademic years if the program of study normally requires five years. An\neligible recipient enrolled in an eligible two year program of study\nshall not receive an award for more than two academic years.\nNotwithstanding, such duration may be extended for an allowable\ninterruption of study including, but not limited to, death of a family\nmember, medical leave, military service, and parental leave, as\nestablished by the corporation in regulation.\n 4. Conditions. (a) An applicant who would be eligible for a New York\nstate tuition 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.\n (b) An applicant who has earned a bachelor's degree is ineligible to\nreceive an award pursuant to this section.\n (c) An applicant who has earned an associate's degree is ineligible to\nreceive an award for a two year program of study pursuant to this\nsection.\n (d) Notwithstanding paragraph c of subdivision four of section six\nhundred sixty-one of this part, a school shall certify that a recipient\nhas achieved a grade point average necessary for successful completion\nof his or her coursework to receive payment under the award.\n (e) A recipient shall agree to reside exclusively in New York state,\nand shall not be employed in any other state, for a continuous number of\nyears equal to the duration of the award received within six months of\nreceipt of his or her final award payment, and sign a contract with the\ncorporation to have his or her full award converted to a student loan\naccording to a schedule to be determined by the corporation if such\nstudent fails to fulfill this requirement. The terms and conditions of\nthis paragraph may, as established by the rules and regulations of the\ncorporation, be deferred: (i) to complete undergraduate study; or (ii)\nto attend graduate school on at least a half-time basis. Any obligation\nto comply with such provisions as outlined in this paragraph may be\ncancelled upon the death of the recipient. Notwithstanding any\nprovisions of this paragraph to the contrary, the corporation is\nauthorized to promulgate rules and regulations to provide for the waiver\nor suspension of any financial obligation which would involve extreme\nhardship.\n (f) Notwithstanding paragraph (c) of subdivision one of this section,\na student who otherwise satisfies all of the requirements under this\nsection but fails to complete at least thirty combined credits, or its\nequivalent, applicable to his or her program or programs of study in any\nyear shall be eligible to receive an award payment for the first\nsemester of such year, provided however, the student shall be ineligible\nfor any further payments under this section.\n 5. Recipient selection. The president may establish: (a) an\napplication deadline and (b) a method of selecting recipients if in any\ngiven year there are insufficient funds to cover the needs of all the\napplicants provided that priority shall be given to eligible applicants\nwho are currently in attendance at a public institution of higher\neducation.\n 6. 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