State University of New York Chancellor John King was at Corning Community College Tuesday to talk about the SUNY Reconnect program.
The program supports free tuition and supplies for adults ages 25-55 who want to pursue an associate’s degree and do not already have a degree.
Roundtable participants included state and local representatives, United Steel Workers Local 1000, manufacturing employer Corning Incorporated, college faculty and staff, and students in the SUNY Reconnect program.
Chancellor King said the students shared how the initiative is changing their lives.
“Maybe they thought college was out of reach for them, but knowing that this program is free and that it can turn into a job that can dramatically improve their economic circumstances, it’s really powerful,” said King.
The program began last fall and according to King currently has 5,600 students enrolled.
He said retention rates are high. Ninety-five percent of students continued from their first semester into their second semester.
“Imagine someone who, maybe they're driving for Uber, they're working in a fast food place, they're barely making enough to make ends meet for them and their family, and then they come to a community college, they get a degree in nursing or advanced manufacturing, and they walk into a job making $80-$90,000 a year,” said King. “[It] changes their lives, [it] changes their families' lives.”
Stephanie Sample is one of the thousands of adult learners enrolled in the SUNY Reconnect program at the Corning Community College campus.
Sample is a 44-year-old, single mother of three. Initially, she thought it was “too good to be true.”
“I applied, I was accepted, and I found out that it's not one of the too good to be true moments," said Sample. "It's actually real life, and it's like a milestone in my own life.”
She is studying substance use disorder counseling in the college's Addiction Studies program.
“It's just fulfilling everything that I didn't have fulfilled in my own childhood,” said Sample. “I'm a [first-generation] student, so I didn't have that college experience watching my parents or anybody go to college, so I'm doing that myself now, for myself and for my children.“
Sample plans to use her counseling degree in Chemung County after completing the program.
The statewide initiative includes both the SUNY and the City of New York (CUNY) systems.
Some of the degrees funded by the SUNY and CUNY Reconnect programs include manufacturing, engineering, cyber security, information technology, nursing, renewable energy, air traffic control and emergency management.
King said SUNY Reconnect and the state’s tuition assistance program highlight the state’s commitment to “make higher education affordable.”
A pending federal student loan cap for some professional categories will impact degrees in areas such as nursing and social work. It goes into effect July 1.
“We're going to do everything we can at our campuses to try to keep these degrees affordable, but we're not going to be able to replace what the federal government could provide,” said King. “Students are going to end up taking loans from private sector lenders, they're going to end up paying more. It's bad public policy by the current administration, and we're now in the situation of just trying to mitigate the harm here in New York.”
One way SUNY is working to allay federal student loan caps is by expanding the SUNY Reconnect initiative next fall for students looking to go into nursing.
Eligible students who already have a degree will also be able to attend community college to pursue nursing at no cost through this program.
The expansion is also an effort to grow the state’s healthcare workforce.
SUNY has 30 community college campuses throughout New York.
It is unclear what the total cost for the initiative is to the state. WSKG reached out to the chancellor’s office and did not hear back in time for publication.