FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM JANUARY 5, 2017 • THE QUEENS COURIER 11 Cuomo & Bernie in LIC to pitch free college tuition plan BY ANGELA MATUA [email protected]/@AngelaMatua Governor Andrew Cuomo and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders announced a plan in Long Island City on Tuesday to introduce tuition-free state and city college. Cuomo and Sanders came to La Guardia Community College to talk about the Excelsior Scholarship, which would provide students who are attending twoyear and four-year college programs in New York state and New York City, and whose families earn $125,000 or less, a tuition-free education. Th is would be the fi rst program of its kind in the United States. Cuomo, who hails from Queens, said in a press conference that college aff ordability is “the most important issue that this state and nation must address.” “It is incredibly hard and getting incredibly harder to get a college education,” he said. “Th e average college debt is $30,000 per student. Half the student debt in New York state is higher than $30,000. Th at is not fair. Th at is not right.” Th e plan will start to be implemented this fall and will be offi cially in place by 2019 with legislative approval, according to Th e New York Times. Th e estimated cost of the Excelsior Scholarship would be $163 million; approximately 940,000 households in New York have college-aged children that could benefi t from this program. Existing aid programs would be combined with other state money to pay for the program. Th e Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) off ers almost $1 billion statewide and New York is only one of two states to off er a program like this. Th e program would provide TAP and other federal grants along with other state funds to cover the remaining costs. Sanders, who made aff ordable college tuition a priority during his 2016 presidential run, said this plan would encourage other states to follow New York’s lead in terms of providing a college education to all students regardless of family income. “It is basically insane to tell the young people of this country, ‘We want you to go out and get the best education you can, we want you to get the jobs of the future. Oh, but by the way, aft er you leave school you’re going to be 30, 50, 100 thousand dollars in debt. And you’re going to have to spend decades paying off that debt,’” Sanders said. Currently, tuition at a four-year state school is $6,470 per year. At two-year community colleges, the tuition is $4,350. Th ose attending a four-year program at a city school pay approximately $6,330 per year and $4,880 per year at a two-year community college. New York’s public university system is the largest in the United States, with 440,000 students attending a public university on 64 campuses. Photo courtesy of offi ce of Governor Andrew Cuomo Bernie Sanders and Governor Andrew Cuomo announce a plan for tuition-free college in Long Island City. Great rates like ours are always in season. 1.10% 7-Month CD APY1 $5,000 minimum deposit To qualify you must open a Flushing Bank Complete Checking Plus account. Get the complete access and control you desire with a competitive interest rate and banking on-the-go with our Flushing Bank Mobile2 app. For more information and to find out about our other great offers, visit your local Flushing Bank branch, call 800.581.2889 or visit www.FlushingBank.com. Small enough to know you. Large enough to help you. 1 New money only. APY effective December 23, 2016 Annual percentage yield assumes principal and interest remain on deposit for a full year at current rate. Minimum deposit balance of $5,000 is required. Funds cannot be transferred from an existing Flushing Bank account. Premature withdrawals may be subject to bank and IRS penalties. Rates and offer are subject to change without notice. A new Complete Checking Plus account with a $5,000 minimum initial deposit is required to receive the CD with the advertised rate. Certain fees and restrictions may apply. For new IRA and rollover accounts, the minimum deposit balance is $5,000. A new checking account is not required for IRA accounts. Speak with a Flushing Bank representative for more details. 2 Flushing Bank Mobile Banking is available to all Flushing Bank online banking users. Flushing Bank is a registered trademark
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