More than 40,000 newly eligible students have submitted applications for New York’s Tuition Assistance Program following eligibility expansion and increased funding.

Gov. Kathy Hochul announced significant changes to TAP in April 2024, as a part of the 2025 state budget, which increased income limits for program eligibility, providing financial aid assistance for both dependent and independent students as part of a broader goal to make higher education more accessible in New York. The income threshold for dependent students was raised from $80,000 to $125,000, while the threshold for independent single students increased from $10,000 to $30,000. This change expands financial assistance eligibility, allowing more students to benefit from TAP.

“TAP is one of the nation’s largest need-based college financial aid grant programs, and since its inception in 1974, it has provided nearly $30 billion to help more than 6 million New Yorkers attend college,” said Guillermo Linares, a former state assemblymember and the president of the New York State Higher Education Services Corporation, in a press release. “The enhancements to TAP underscore Governor Hochul’s dedication to supporting students in their educational journeys. By expanding eligibility and increasing award amounts, we are empowering more New Yorkers to achieve their academic goals.”

The 2025 budget allocated $55.7 million to increase TAP funding, raising the minimum award from $500 to $1,000. This year, eligibility was expanded to include those seeking alternative routes to higher education, like part-time students and individuals enrolled in nondegree programs.

Coulter Ward, the associate director for state aid operations at Binghamton University, said the expansion reinforces the University’s commitment to accessible and affordable higher education.

“By broadening the eligibility criteria, more students from middle-income families will have the opportunity to benefit from financial support, easing the burden of tuition costs,” Ward said.

The expansion, which includes 48,000 newly eligible students, is expected to provide financial support to approximately 93,000 students throughout the state. According to SUNY Chancellor John King Jr., due to the expansion of eligibility and other preexisting financial aid, 52 percent of in-state SUNY students can attend tuition-free. Approximately 234,000 New York students received over $662 million in tuition assistance during the 2022-23 academic year.

Megan Ahearn, the program director of the New York Public Interest Research Group, said gaps still exist in educational funding and accessibility.

“As a program that started in the 1970s, there are still updates to TAP needed,” Ahearn wrote. “For one, TAP used to be available to graduate students, but it no longer is. In an economy that increasingly demands advanced degrees, TAP should be reinstated for graduate students. Secondly, the maximum TAP award does not match the current CUNY or SUNY tuition rates. While the individual students that get max-TAP are not on the hook to pay the difference, this gap has the potential to leave the colleges themselves in a financial lurch. We think the max TAP award should match the tuition rates at SUNY to protect campus’s financial stability.”

Students interested in TAP assistance can apply through the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Applications for the upcoming 2024-25 academic year will remain open until June 2025.

“I think that it’s important that this increase in TAP means more students like me can get more financial support in order to reduce financial stress or burdens,” wrote Gabby Esposito, a senior majoring in human development. “It’s definitely a step in the right direction for making college accessible to everyone!”