BUFFALO, N.Y. — Every Buffalo Public Schools senior will receive a letter next week from SUNY, encouraging them to apply at any of its 64 campuses, free of charge.
SUNY Chancellor John B. King, Jr. shared the importance of making sure all New York residents can find a home at one of their higher education schools.
“It’s really important that students in the city schools know college is for them.”
To make that message even more clear, the letter comes with a QR code that allows eligible students to apply to up to seven SUNY schools of their choice for free.
Christopher Phillips is a senior at the Buffalo School of Culinary Arts & Hospitality Management, and up until Monday, he never considering staying in Buffalo for college.
“At first, I wasn’t thinking of staying with Buffalo schools,” Phillips said. “But, I saw the opportunity that I have.”
He got the chance to speak to Chancellor King about what’s available for him, and that changed everything.
“I was persuaded, yes,” Phillips said. “They really broke it down and made me realize there’s more stuff than what I was just focused on.”
“It’s really important that every student in New York knows there’s a place for them at SUNY,” King said.
The cost of SUNY tuition is $7,070. Meanwhile, the average cost for out-of-state students at any public university in the country is $27,023 according to the Education Data Initiative.
On top of that, King says 53% of SUNY students don’t pay any tuition thanks to financial aid.
He wants to get that message out, so more students see a college education in New York is affordable.
“I hope they come to SUNY, but more than that, I hope they choose [to go to] college,” King said.
Now, Phillips and his classmates can look at schools in our own back yard for a reduced price, like the University at Buffalo.
“There were quite a few who want to come to UB actually,” President of the University at Buffalo Satish K. Tripathi. “It’s fantastic they want to come, and we want to get them there.”
If you are interested to applying to attend a SUNY school, you can so at https://www.suny.edu/attend/apply-to-suny/.
