When first proposed, advocates hailed the Excelsior Scholarship as the first non-merit-based statewide free college program to cover tuition not only at community colleges but in the four-year sector. News coverage described the program as “groundbreaking” and estimated that some 640,000 New Yorkers would benefit.
A report from the Community College Research Center finds that middle- and upper-income students are most likely to benefit from the scholarship program, largely because of the eligibility formula’s last-dollar nature; most middle- and low-income students already have their tuition covered by other aid.
This is not the whole story, however. Even among students who appear eligible for substantial awards, initial program take-up is low. Ultimately, only 5 percent of first-time, first-year students at CUNY receive an award, and only about half of these students renewed the scholarship for a second year. Based on evidence from other financial aid programs, the report’s authors hypothesize that the application process and complex contracts students must sign may impede access to benefits.