The following are highlights of Governor Spitzer's proposed Executive Budget for Higher Education for 2007-08:

SUNY

• SUNY's gross operating budget is increased by $148.1 million or 4.6 percent. This funding increase includes $81.5 million for fringe benefits. The remainder of over $60 million is for base level costs associated with collective bargaining and other fixed costs.
• No tuition increase is proposed pending the receipt of the recommendations of the Governor's Commission on Public Higher Education.
• The state subsidy for SUNY hospitals is increased by $6.8 million to $146.3 million
• The Executive Budget states: "In the coming months, SUNY will work with the Department of Health to move forward with the Berger Commission's recommendations for its teaching hospitals". These recommendations call for privatization of the SUNY teaching hospitals.
• The Budget includes an increase of $2.3 million for Educational Opportunity Centers.
• The Empire Innovation Program is doubled from $6 to $12 million.

CUNY

• CUNY's gross operating budget is increased by $71.8 million or 4.6 percent. This
• amount is to support CUNY's fixed cost increases including those pursuant to collective bargaining and fringe benefits.
• No tuition increase is proposed pending the recommendations of the Governor's Commission on Public Higher Education.
• The Empire Innovation Program will total $9 million - an increase of $4 million.

Community Colleges

• The Executive Budget proposes an increase in community college base aid per student to $2625, an increase of $100.
• Commission on Public Higher Education
• Governor Spitzer is proposing a new Commission on Public Higher Education to develop comprehensive recommendations including:
• Short-term and longer term strategies to enable New York State's public universities to go from "…being good to being great".
• A rational tuition policy to promote affordability, stability and predictability in future tuition charges at SUNY and CUNY.
• Benchmarks for comparing the educational accomplishments, research productivity and academic quality of our public institutions against those of peer institutions throughout the country.

Higher Education Services Corporation

• The use of the Ability to Benefit Test will be discontinued as a measure of determining academic eligibility for TAP beginning with the 2007-08 academic year. This change will impact primarily the Proprietary School sector. The estimated savings from this change is $30 million.

State Education Department

• Commissioner to develop new P-16 data system to track student performance from pre-k through public colleges linking students to teachers and instructors.
• Commissioner will evaluate the effectiveness of teacher preparation programs.
• Commissioner will review alternative teacher preparation programs to expand availability in the future.

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