Enacted Budget Makes $22.9 Billion Investment in Higher Education

Speaker Carl Heastie and Higher Education Committee Chair Alicia L. Hyndman today announced the State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2026-2027 Enacted Budget invests $15.1 billion in State University of New York (SUNY) and $6.7 billion in City University of New York (CUNY) and provides critical funding to opportunity programs.

“As the cost of higher education continues to place it out of reach for so many, the Assembly Majority delivered a budget that ensures students can access an affordable, world-class education here in New York,” said Speaker Heastie. “The investments made in SUNY and CUNY and opportunity programs are critical to further strengthening our institutions and ensuring all New Yorkers can achieve their greatest potential through higher education.”

“An investment in higher education is an investment in the very foundation of New York’s future,” said Assemblymember Hyndman. “This enacted budget delivers on our promise to keep college accessible and affordable for every family. By dismantling financial barriers, we could’ve gone farther for graduate students, but there’s always next year. This budget opens doors to classrooms; we are providing our students with the vital tools to build generational wealth and drive our state's economy forward.”

SUNY

The enacted budget provides an additional $200 million for SUNY maintenance capital and $100 million for SUNY research facilities. It also includes $100 million for SUNY to self-finance projects.

The spending plan also includes $11.5 million in various legislative adds and restorations, including:

• $2 million for SUNY Maritime Appointments Program;
• $2 million for the Mesonet at SUNY Albany
• $1.7 million for the Cornell Cooperative Extension;
• $350,000 for the Black Leadership Institute;
• $350,000 for the Asian American Native American and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Leadership Institute;
• $330,000 for the Long Island Veteran’s Home;
• $250,000 for State University College of Technology at Farmingdale for additional operational and programmatic needs; and
• $150,000 for the Benjamin Center at SUNY New Paltz.

The budget also shifts the cost of SUNY hospital debt service from the hospitals to the state, saving the hospitals $80 million.

CUNY

The SFY 2026-27 budget provides an additional $200 million for CUNY capital, as well as $29.1 million in capital funding for CUNY Community Colleges.

It also includes $14 million in various legislative adds and restorations, including:

• $4 million for the CUNY Medical School;
• $2.5 million for the School of Labor and Urban Studies, for a total of $8.2 million;
• $1.2 million for the Black Male Initiative;
• $1.2 million for the Asian American Research Institute;
• $1 million for Medgar Evers College Biomedical AI Research and Education Initiative;
• $835,000 for Medgar Evers College Jumpstart Summer Academy; and
• $350,000 restoration for the W. Haywood Burns Chair in Human and Civil Rights.

The enacted budget also provides $36.5 million for CUNY collective bargaining.

Community Colleges

The spending plan provides $20 million in total funding for Community College Base Aid increases, including $12 million for SUNY community colleges and $8 million CUNY community colleges.

The budget will make the Opportunity Promise Scholarship available to students pursuing associate’s degrees in nursing who have a postsecondary degree and to students pursuing an associate’s degree at a four-year institution at SUNY or CUNY.The budget provides $4 million to SUNY and $3 million to CUNY to fund these scholarships.

Opportunity Programs

The enacted budget makes critical investments in opportunity programs for New York students. This includes:

• $55.7 million for the Educational Opportunity Program, which restores $2.6 million and increases funding by $10.7 million;
• $50.5 million for the Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP), which restores $2.9 million and increases funding by $3.6 million;
• $39.9 million for Search for Education, Elevation and Knowledge (SEEK) program, which restores $2.3 million and increases funding by $590,000;
• $26.1 million for the Liberty Partnerships Program (LPP), which restores $1.5 million and increases funding by $1.9 million;
• $17 million for CSTEP, which restores $964,000 and increases funding by $2.1 million; and
• $8.5 million for Foster Youth Initiative, which restores $483,000 and increases funding by $609,000.

Other Investments

The enacted budget also provides the following adds and restorations:

• $1 million for the Senator Patricia K. McGee Nursing Faculty Scholarship, for a total of $4.9 million;
• $100,000 for the Child Welfare Worker Incentive Scholarship Program, for a total of $150,000; and
• $50,000 for New York Young Farmers, for a total of $200,000.