Letter: State should help SUNY, CUNY more
Nassau Community College in East Garden City is shown in August 2012. Credit: Google
New York has given college students a raw deal [“Discord on tuition hike,” News, March 11].
Since 2008, contributions from state government to public higher education have dropped by more than $1.5 million annually, and since 2011, tuition has risen at four-year SUNY and CUNY schools by $1,500.
In an era when student loan debt has surpassed credit card debt as the second-largest source of personal debt, our state government has decided to burden students and their families even more.
As a Nassau Community College student, I have seen friends and family take multiple jobs, less-than-full class loads, and go into debt just to get an associate’s degree, which gives them the opportunity to transfer to a four-year school. We’ve seen declining levels of full-time faculty and an increase in adjunct professors who, while talented and capable, are often overworked.
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s executive budget does nothing to help the funding issues at community colleges. Newsday has written that millennials feel that Long Island does not give them economic opportunities. College is the best path to having a better quality of life, and by not emphasizing its importance in the budget, our state government is turning its back on the future.
Chima Ogu, Uniondale
