03-22-2021, 08:19 PM
I live in NY. I've been a student at ESC. The Excelsior Scholarship website says one thing, but reality is something entirely different.
The website you posted says this:
A recipient of an Excelsior Scholarship may receive up to $5,500.
To determine the award amount, the 2016-17 resident tuition rate charged by SUNY ($6,470) or CUNY ($6,330) will be reduced by the amount of certain other student financial aid awards which an applicant has or will receive for the academic year, including a NYS Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) award and/or federal Pell grant. The Excelsior Scholarship will cover any remaining tuition liability up to $5,500; and a tuition credit will cover any remaining tuition expenses not covered by the Excelsior Scholarship.
I admit math is not best my subject, but if the scholarship is $5,500 and tuition (not including fees) is $6,470, then the scholarship does not cover the full amount of tuition. There is a tuition credit, but that is not the scholarship. If you've ever attended a SUNY school, then you know the fees can be as much as the tuition. Then there's ridiculous amount you have to spend on textbooks.
Almost no one on here would qualify for this scholarship which has been talked about before. If you have every been to any college ever, you don't qualify. If by some miracle you get the scholarship, then you have to stay a full time student for every term and then stay a NY resident for x number of years or you have to pay it back.
You must also graduate in 4 years which is a HUGE problem.
As of 2012, only 25.9% of CUNY students graduate with a bachelors within 4 years, as required by the Excelsior Scholarship, according to the CUNY Office of Institutional Research and Assessment.[9] 48.9% of State University of New York students graduate with a bachelors within 4 years.[10]
Then there's this issue...yup it can be converted into a loan. Hardly a scholarship.
If students do not fulfill the work requirements, or fail to meet academic requirements the amount of scholarship funding they received will be converted into a loan.[11]
Tens of thousands of students applied over the years and most were denied. There's tons of articles about this you can read via Google.
https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2017/05/16/drawbacks-new-york-states-free-college-plan-essay
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excelsior_Scholarship
https://fortune.com/2017/04/13/free-college-tuition-new-york-excelsior-scholarship-pay-education-bill/
70% of applicants were rejected.....so much for that scholarship program that was so easy to get. Just 3% of students attending college in NY received the "scholarship".
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/report...2018-08-16
https://www.gothamgazette.com/opinion/80...comes-next
https://nycfuture.org/research/excelsior-scholarship
Don't think the program hasn't been impacted by Covid either. The state has a long history of not having their act together with this "scholarship", too.
https://www.adirondackdailyenterprise.co...aces-cuts/
I'm well versed on ESC. Thanks for quoting the website. Back in the 90's, it was all self study courses where you had weekly phone calls with your instructor. It was a LOT of papers. It's somewhat different now as the courses are online. It was NEVER designed to be like the BIG 3. It is NOT super ACE or alternative credit friendly. They want you to take their courses because $$$$. If you've actually spoken to admissions about transferring ACE credits you'd find out, there are serious limits on it and they do not accept most providers. There's the vagueness on the website then there's what they tell you when you talk to them. I think the website is vague on purpose so they don't have to commit to anything.
One side note...their classes are 4 credits so if you're not full time, you're paying a small fortune for 1 class....a class that if you transfer is probably only going to be worth 3 credits. In state residents pay over $1,400 for 1 class including fees. If you're full time which is 12 credits (3 courses) your tuition and fees is $3815. When I was enrolled full time tuition capped at 15 credits. Remember how I said their courses were 4 credits? So for that 4th class, you're paying over $4100. This may have changed so that you're not paying extra for that 1 credit, but all of SUNY does have a cap on how many credits you can take as a full time students before additional tuition is charged. They kind of suck that way. It happened to me taking 19 credits in a community college. I had to pay full time tuition and then part time tuition and fees on 1 credit. God forbid they don't charge someone extra fees. SUNY is VERY fee happy.
ESC also has this gem called Portfolio Assessment Fee. It's $315 and every new student pays it. Even if you transfer all of your credits from an NY community college, you get hit with that fee. SUNY loooooooves their fees. The fees make up for the lack of annual tuition increases. I don't know if other state systems are this insane with the fees. I know CSU Global and UMPI are not. There were no additional fees at either school even though they are state universities and part of their state university systems. NY hasn't met a tax/fee it doesn't like.
The website you posted says this:
A recipient of an Excelsior Scholarship may receive up to $5,500.
To determine the award amount, the 2016-17 resident tuition rate charged by SUNY ($6,470) or CUNY ($6,330) will be reduced by the amount of certain other student financial aid awards which an applicant has or will receive for the academic year, including a NYS Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) award and/or federal Pell grant. The Excelsior Scholarship will cover any remaining tuition liability up to $5,500; and a tuition credit will cover any remaining tuition expenses not covered by the Excelsior Scholarship.
I admit math is not best my subject, but if the scholarship is $5,500 and tuition (not including fees) is $6,470, then the scholarship does not cover the full amount of tuition. There is a tuition credit, but that is not the scholarship. If you've ever attended a SUNY school, then you know the fees can be as much as the tuition. Then there's ridiculous amount you have to spend on textbooks.
Almost no one on here would qualify for this scholarship which has been talked about before. If you have every been to any college ever, you don't qualify. If by some miracle you get the scholarship, then you have to stay a full time student for every term and then stay a NY resident for x number of years or you have to pay it back.
You must also graduate in 4 years which is a HUGE problem.
As of 2012, only 25.9% of CUNY students graduate with a bachelors within 4 years, as required by the Excelsior Scholarship, according to the CUNY Office of Institutional Research and Assessment.[9] 48.9% of State University of New York students graduate with a bachelors within 4 years.[10]
Then there's this issue...yup it can be converted into a loan. Hardly a scholarship.
If students do not fulfill the work requirements, or fail to meet academic requirements the amount of scholarship funding they received will be converted into a loan.[11]
Tens of thousands of students applied over the years and most were denied. There's tons of articles about this you can read via Google.
https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2017/05/16/drawbacks-new-york-states-free-college-plan-essay
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excelsior_Scholarship
https://fortune.com/2017/04/13/free-college-tuition-new-york-excelsior-scholarship-pay-education-bill/
70% of applicants were rejected.....so much for that scholarship program that was so easy to get. Just 3% of students attending college in NY received the "scholarship".
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/report...2018-08-16
https://www.gothamgazette.com/opinion/80...comes-next
https://nycfuture.org/research/excelsior-scholarship
Don't think the program hasn't been impacted by Covid either. The state has a long history of not having their act together with this "scholarship", too.
https://www.adirondackdailyenterprise.co...aces-cuts/
I'm well versed on ESC. Thanks for quoting the website. Back in the 90's, it was all self study courses where you had weekly phone calls with your instructor. It was a LOT of papers. It's somewhat different now as the courses are online. It was NEVER designed to be like the BIG 3. It is NOT super ACE or alternative credit friendly. They want you to take their courses because $$$$. If you've actually spoken to admissions about transferring ACE credits you'd find out, there are serious limits on it and they do not accept most providers. There's the vagueness on the website then there's what they tell you when you talk to them. I think the website is vague on purpose so they don't have to commit to anything.
One side note...their classes are 4 credits so if you're not full time, you're paying a small fortune for 1 class....a class that if you transfer is probably only going to be worth 3 credits. In state residents pay over $1,400 for 1 class including fees. If you're full time which is 12 credits (3 courses) your tuition and fees is $3815. When I was enrolled full time tuition capped at 15 credits. Remember how I said their courses were 4 credits? So for that 4th class, you're paying over $4100. This may have changed so that you're not paying extra for that 1 credit, but all of SUNY does have a cap on how many credits you can take as a full time students before additional tuition is charged. They kind of suck that way. It happened to me taking 19 credits in a community college. I had to pay full time tuition and then part time tuition and fees on 1 credit. God forbid they don't charge someone extra fees. SUNY is VERY fee happy.
ESC also has this gem called Portfolio Assessment Fee. It's $315 and every new student pays it. Even if you transfer all of your credits from an NY community college, you get hit with that fee. SUNY loooooooves their fees. The fees make up for the lack of annual tuition increases. I don't know if other state systems are this insane with the fees. I know CSU Global and UMPI are not. There were no additional fees at either school even though they are state universities and part of their state university systems. NY hasn't met a tax/fee it doesn't like.
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