New York may stop Excelsior Scholarship this year due to COVID-19
ALBANY — Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s Excelsior Scholarship, which has benefited 30,000 students since it was announced in 2017, may be rolled back this year due to COVID-19 budget constraints, according to a notice that appeared on the application website Friday.
“Please note that the COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically reduced state revenues and the processing of new applications is pending on Federal assistance, which has been delayed since April. Excelsior Scholarship awards may have to be reduced and/or prioritized for current recipients as provided for under the program,” the notice reads.
The grant allows students from households earning under $125,000 to attend state and city colleges tuition-free. It is a” last-dollar” program, supplementing the cost of tuition after other financial aid resources have been expended.
To be eligible, students must be enrolled in 30 credits a year. Recipients must also work in New York for four years after graduation or treat the grant as a loan.
Parents began to worry when the Fall 2020 application period had not opened by July.
Cuomo announced the scholarship in 2017. That year, the application period began in June and the deadline was mid-July. In 2018, the scholarship became available in late March and enrollment lasted through July. Last year, the Excelsior application went live in early May, and the deadline was extended to mid-august.
Freeman Klopott, a spokesman for the state Division of the Budget, said the application period for the Excelsior Scholarship will open soon.
“That said, the State is contending with a devastating revenue loss, amounting to $61 billion over four years, and in the absence of multi-year federal funding for New York State, awards may have to be reduced,” he said. “We hope students and their families will join us in calling on the federal government to act.”
