Cold War Veterans Blog

“Free Tuition” at CUNY for Veterans Starting Fall 2008

June 9th, 2008

Veterans who attend The City University of New York this fall will pay virtually no tuition under a new tuition benefits program that was enacted as part of New York State’s budget for fiscal year 2008-09 and signed recently by Governor David A. Paterson.

CUNY already offers a host of comprehensive services for veterans, including academic advisement and tutoring, financial aid and benefits advisement, counseling, and job placement. CUNY’s Office of Veterans Affairs is committed to fostering a sense of community and strengthening communication among veterans with faculty, staff and administration.

The Office of Veterans Affairs provides comprehensive information about services for veterans, reservists and their dependents and survivors, as well as about educational benefits, entitlements, counseling and advocacy resources to assist veterans in their academic and civilian careers.

Each CUNY college has a veterans’ affairs representative and some have full service offices that offer a wide range of counseling and other services. For Spring ‘08, 1,700 student-veterans were enrolled at CUNY. The Veterans Administration projects several thousand veterans will be returning to the tri-state area over the next few years.

Chancellor Matthew Goldstein stated: “I wish to commend Governor Paterson and the State Legislature for this important program that will expand educational opportunities for New York’s veterans. Thousands of veterans are presently enrolled at CUNY and we welcome more in the future.”

According to the New York State Division of Veterans’ Affairs, awards for veterans who attend CUNY next fall will be set at 98% of tuition or $4,287.50, whichever is less. Tuition for New York State residents who are full-time students at the University’s 11 senior colleges is $4,000 per year. Tuition for full-time students at CUNY’s six community colleges is $2,800.

Information about the expanded veterans’ tuition program and the City University’s many services for veterans is available on the Office of Veterans Affairs website at: http://www1.cuny.edu/about/veterans/financing.html

The City University of New York is the nation’s largest urban public university. Founded in New York City in 1847 as the Free Academy, CUNY comprises 23 institutions: 11 senior colleges, six community colleges, the William E. Macaulay Honors College at CUNY, the Graduate School and University Center, the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, the CUNY School of Law, the CUNY School of Professional Studies and the Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education. The University serves more than 231,000 degree-credit students and more than 231,000 adult, continuing and professional education students. College Now, the University’s academic enrichment program for 32,500 high school students, is offered at CUNY campuses and more than 300 high schools throughout the five boroughs of the City of New York. The University offers online baccalaureate degrees through the School of Professional Studies and individualized baccalaureate through the CUNY Baccalaureate Degree. The University Teacher Academy provides free tuition for highly motivated mathematics and science majors who seek teaching careers in the city.