NEW PALTZ, NY — On Monday, October 28, SUNY New Paltz hosted hearings for the Senate Standing Committee on Higher Education and regional legislators to examine the accessibility and affordability of the cost of public higher education, co-sponsored by Sen. Jen Metzger.

“Fifty-eight percent of students at both public and private colleges graduate with some level of debt, and we have an urgent need here in New York to address the affordability crisis facing current and future college students. I will continue to advocate strongly for increasing the maximum Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) award and closing the TAP gap, and for passage of legislation I sponsor with Assembly Member Jacobson to extend the Excelsior Program to part-time students. Every young person in New York deserves access to higher education without being forced to take on unsustainable student debt,” said Metzger.

“The purpose of these hearings is to listen to the higher education community and discuss how to make college more accessible, affordable and available,” said Sen. Toby Ann Stavisky, Chair of the Senate Standing Committee on Higher Education.