Local Financing Up Amid Flat State Aid for SUNY Orange 2024–25 Budget

Orange County taxpayers and students are set to shoulder a bigger share in financing their community college in the fall as state aid stays flat for the third time in a row. In the $65 million budget proposed by SUNY Orange, direct county support will rise by $1 million to nearly $22 million, and student tuition rates will go up by about 2.5 percent. That means that for an average full-time college student, tuition will increase by $144 to just more than $5,800 in the coming school year. On the contrary, basic state aid for two-year community colleges will remain flat at $12.7 million next year. Though an old New York state law espouses an equal share in financing community colleges among the three major stakeholders—the state, the local sponsor, and students—the scale at SUNY Orange has increasingly tilted toward the latter two over the past years....