Eliminating SUNY Graduate Student Worker Fees
Governor Kathy Hochul today announced the elimination of mandatory fees for graduate students working at SUNY State-operated campuses, making master's and doctoral degrees more affordable for students.
The complete elimination of mandatory fees for graduate student workers marks the end of a four-year phase-out of these fees, which previously amounted to an average of $2,000 per year.
“SUNY provides academic excellence, and through my administration, we are looking at every possibility to make higher education more affordable,” Governor Hochul said. “Our graduate student workers serve as teachers, researchers and other critical functions on our campuses while pursuing their degrees, and, with this step forward, we are supporting them in continuing to play these vital roles.”
SUNY Chancellor John B. King Jr. said, “The elimination of fees for graduate student workers advances SUNY’s commitment to affordable excellence for students throughout New York State. Thank you to Governor Hochul, the State Legislature, and SUNY Board of Trustees for continuously supporting initiatives that help our students thrive.”
The SUNY Board of Trustees said, “With the steadfast support and leadership of Governor Hochul, this initiative mitigates financial barriers and ensures student workers are able to focus fully on their academic careers. The elimination of fees furthers
SUNY’s commitment to offering access to an affordable education that helps our students reach their full potential.”
State Senator Toby Ann Stavisky said, “As Chair of the Senate Higher Education Committee, I have worked for many years with the CWA to eliminate these fees and introduced this version of the bill in 2021. Graduate assistants receive a tuition waiver, and then they are billed roughly $2,000 in mandatory fees against a stipend of about $20,000. That is a barrier we can remove, and today we have removed it for more than 7,500 students. I thank the CWA for its advocacy and partnership, and Governor Hochul for making it happen.”
Assemblymember Alicia L. Hyndman said, “Providing graduate student workers at SUNY schools a relief from school fees will be a benefit for them and their families. Scholars pursuing their master’s and doctorate degrees while supporting SUNY campuses as researchers, teacher assistants and more, should not be weighed down by $2,000 fees.”
CWA Local 1104 President Michael Ippoliti said, “Our members put their hearts and souls into their work and are a vital piece of the entire SUNY system. Being forced to pay fees back to the universities that employ them has been an unconscionable burden. We’ve worked for years at the bargaining table and in Albany to make changes to this system, and I’m very proud of our members who’ve never given up the fight, as well as appreciative to the Governor and Legislature who’ve worked with us to make this a reality. I’m thrilled to see this day finally come when we can say that these fees have been eliminated once and for all!"
CWA District 1 Vice President Dennis G. Trainor said, “This is a great day for SUNY’s graduate workforce, as well as the whole university system, and I can say without a doubt that this will have a huge and lasting impact on SUNY’s workforce as well as the students they educate. I want to thank Governor Hochul and her team as well as the full Legislature, particularly bill sponsors Senator Stavisky and Assemblymember Solages, for their partnership in working to address this issue and collaborating with us to fight for a stronger, more fair and affordable New York.”
The elimination of fees for graduate student workers has been supported through continued investment in SUNY operations by Governor Hochul and the Legislature through Enacted State Budgets since 2023/24. The more than 7,500 impacted SUNY graduate student workers provide essential services on their respective campuses including research, serving as student teaching assistants, and supporting regular campus operations.
About the State University of New York
The State University of New York is the largest comprehensive system of higher education in the United States, and more than 95 percent of all New Yorkers live within 30 miles of any one of SUNY's 64 colleges and universities. Across the system, SUNY has four academic health centers, five hospitals, four medical schools, two dental schools, a law school, the country’s oldest school of maritime, the state's only college of optometry, 12 Educational Opportunity Centers, over 30 ATTAIN digital literacy labs, and manages one US Department of Energy National Laboratory. In total, SUNY serves about 1.7 million students across its portfolio of credit- and non-credit-bearing courses and programs, continuing education, and community outreach programs. SUNY oversees nearly a quarter of academic research in New York. Research expenditures system-wide are nearly $1.5 billion in fiscal year 2025, including significant contributions from students and faculty. There are more than three million SUNY alumni worldwide, and annually one in three New Yorkers who earn a college degree is a SUNY alum. To learn more about how SUNY creates opportunities, visit suny.edu.
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