Adult New Yorkers looking to pursue higher education can now work toward a free associate degree at Tompkins Cortland Community College in select fields.
Tuition, fees, books and supplies costs will be covered through SUNY Reconnect, a new program funded by New York State to offer adult New Yorkers free two-year degrees.
Learners in the program must be New York residents within the 25-55 year age range and do not need prior college experience or credits to enroll. Participants can sign up for full-time or part-time enrollment in “high-demand” fields that will unlock employment opportunities immediately after graduation, according to a TC3 press release.
“Adults students often face a different set of challenges when pursuing a college degree,” Robert Palmieri, vice president for enrollment management at TC3, said in the release. “This program, coupled with all the other support services we offer at TC3, will help our adult students succeed, which will help our community thrive.”
Students participating in SUNY Reconnect can earn their degrees in “emerging industries” such as advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, engineering, green and renewable energy, nursing, education and technology fields, according to the release. The full list of courses offered through SUNY Reconnect can be found online.
To remain in the program, students must take at least six credits per semester, complete their degree within 10 semesters and remain in good academic standing.
Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-N.Y.) first proposed the SUNY Reconnect program at her January State of the State Address. As she spoke, she stood at a podium sporting a banner that read “free community college” and shared her plan to “reshape the future of thousands and thousands of New Yorkers” through free education.
Hochul’s mother could not afford to fund her own college education until her children were college-age themselves. Hochul said her mother’s enrollment in college at an older age set an example for her and illustrated the importance of education.
“If you're working minimum wage and you're trying to pay for child care and then maybe cover the cost of a community college to lift yourself up, it's not happening,” Hochul said at the address. “We will pick up the tab for you because that is an investment that will be earned multiple times over.”
Varsha Bhargava is a reporter at the Ithaca Times and a news editor at The Cornell Daily Sun working on The Sun’s summer fellowship. This article was originally published in the Ithaca Times.
Varsha Bhargava is a news editor for the 143rd Editorial Board and a member of the Class of 2027 in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. She can be reached at vbhargava@cornellsun.com.
