WHO WE ARE

The Student Assembly of the State University of New York is an organization created by Article XVII of the guidelines of the SUNY Board of Trustees. Empowering students throughout the state, the SUNY SA is committed to student life and assuring the representation of its members on the state and national level as well as throughout the SUNY system.

SUNY students attend class at sixty-four campuses in every region of New York State. At over 435,000, the student body of SUNY is the largest in the nation. They represent every county and district; they come from every walk of life. They strive to be doctors and lawyers, teachers and analysts, engineers and environmentalists. The students of SUNY are not only the most essential constituency of SUNY itself, but of New York State as a whole. Because of SUNY, our students are able to attain a quality, affordable education and surpass the roadblocks of the past. Their parents, who in many cases work hard to provide for their children an education worth having, are what makes up New York State’s present. And most importantly, they are the workforce to come, the voters to come; they are the future of New York.

WHAT WE DO

As the only statewide student government organization, we work on behalf of the over 435,000 students and their families that attend school at one of the sixty-four SUNY Campuses. As student leaders, we are elected by our peers to work on issues that concern the entire SUNY system such as tuition, budgets, textbook affordability, and transfer and articulation policies, just to name a few.

As a support net to the student governments on our campuses, we provide the state-level advocacy they would have difficulty achieving, and produce resources and best practices to assist in their roles on campus. Our staff supports the campus student governments as they face challenges that are both organizational and programmatic. At our bi-annual conferences, we offer leadership training opportunities specifically focused to the needs of SUNY students.

WHY WE CARE

SUNY students have already agreed to do their fair share to help the state budget crisis by accepting a tuition increase of $620 and voting to follow a rational tuition policy in subsequent years, increasing tuition annually by moderate increments based on the Higher Education Price Index. By taking 90 percent of that tuition increase away from SUNY and its students in the first year, and 80 percent of it thereafter, the Governor is in fact proposing a tax on students of nearly $500.

SUNY has already absorbed over $200 million in cuts. Combine that with the plethora of other state budget cuts that unintentionally harm SUNY, such as the huge Medicare cuts that will adversely affect SUNY’s hospitals, and the state university finds itself in a difficult situation. Any further cuts such as the proposed reduction in state support of $40 million would place the future of quality higher education in New York State in grave jeopardy.

By slashing SUNY’s budget earlier this year, the Governor placed a tremendous strain on SUNY’s ability to provide a quality education. The students and their families were then asked to step up to protect that quality by paying a large tuition increase. By proposing to take the vast majority of the increased tuition revenue away from SUNY and further reducing state support, Governor Paterson has shown reckless disregard for the importance of higher education.

The 10% reduction in base aid for community colleges will close the door of opportunity afforded to many New York State high school graduates looking to further their education or receive job training.

Because of the ever-changing financial situation of New York families, it is extremely important that we allow for mid-year adjustments to the level of TAP funding students are receiving.

INVEST IN SUNY… INVEST IN NEW YORK

Restoring the budget cuts and allowing SUNY to keep the tuition increase is essential. Here are just a few of the returns our state will see from that investment:

Communities. Keeping the SUNY system strong will help keep communities across the state strong. It is estimated that for every dollar invested in SUNY there is between a six and eight dollar return to campus communities. With sixty-four campuses spread across the state, investing in SUNY will also bring a great degree of economic growth to many New York communities.

Competition. New York’s investment in higher education has fallen well behind many other states. In 2004, New York ranked last (50th out of 50) among all states in terms of expenditures for higher education as a percentage of all state and local government expenditures. While at the same time New York students were paying $1,000 more than the national average for public higher education. This means New York students are paying much more than students in most other states, while the State of New York is contributing much less to higher education than every other state. As the state continues to cut SUNY’s budget and subsequently tuition continues to increase this only places New York schools and New York students at a further competitive disadvantage. It is in the best interest of the state to remain competitive in intellectual capital in this time of economic upheaval.

Creativity. Our state and our nation are facing grave challenges and many of the solutions to the problems we currently face remain unknown. By investing in affordable higher education, we are investing in the pursuit of creative solutions to our growing problems. Universities are a place where curious and energetic students meet with experienced and knowledgeable professors to seek out new solutions to our growing global challenges and it is through investment in higher education that we can help foster and promote this discovery.

"By investing in SUNY, you invest in New York."