With Higher Education Funding at Risk, SUNY and CUNY Students Call for the State to Step In

Some SUNY and CUNY students say if funding for higher education is affected by federal spending cuts under the Trump administration, they hope the state will step in.

Federal funding for higher education and research is in question amid President Trump’s efforts to freeze federal grants and loans. Confusion remains at agencies like the National Institutes of Health, which supports academic research across the country.

SUNY’s Research Foundation estimates it will lose $79 million in current grants, which includes more than $21 million through June. A coalition of 22 state attorneys general is suing the administration after the NIH said it would slash funding for “indirect cost” reimbursements, covering things like lab costs, faculty, infrastructure and utilities.

At the same time, students gathered at the state capitol in Albany Wednesday to call for more state funding for New York’s public colleges and universities. Giovanni Harvey is a grad student at the University at Albany, Student Assembly President, and Student Trustee on the SUNY Board of Trustees.

“Worried about not only the time and the investment that we’re putting in, but to be able to continue that. I mean, we have some students in some of our university centers, at University at Albany, all the way down to Stony Brook, doing some really cutting-edge research, and so, you know, we hope to preserve that. We also hope that the state will come into support should any cuts happen in that area,” Harvey said.

In February, the U.S. Department of Education issued what some are now calling the “Dear Colleague” letter — a four-page memo stating educational institutions and state agencies across the country, including pre-K to higher-ed, must scrub diversity and inclusionary initiatives across the board. And plans to dismantle the department resurfaced again recently, when Trump’s Education Secretary nominee, Linda McMahon, told senators she supports efforts to “return education to the states” and abolish federal bureaucracy.

Sean Miller is the Northeast Regional Director for Young Invincibles, a youth advocacy group. He says if SUNY and CUNY institutions are affected, the state needs to fortify itself and protect education.

“The Trump administration and Project 2025 explicitly call for the dismantling of the Department of Education, and this would be horrible for people across America, for people across New York, because it means defunding education at every level, right? It means privatizing education, which is not at all what we want. We know that public education is a public good,” Miller said. “We know that it is something that helps people of all backgrounds, of all income levels, but especially our working class and low-income students, to be able to get a good education, get to college and get a job that has a living wage, right?”

Other students say they fear wellness supports will be cut. Bariya Mosnu is a political science and biology undergraduate at City College of New York.

“We’re all human. We should all be supporting each other, being there for each other,” Mosnu said. “There is no room for hate, for judgment. We should be we should be funding them. We should be helping them.”

Miller adds ensuring students have access to the support systems they need is an investment in the economy.

“So, it’s really a priority to make sure that they’re accessing mental health counselors on campus, ideally, someone who can build a relationship with them and help to address issues that they’ve been dealing with for years or sometimes decades, right,” Miller said.

In a statement to WAMC, Hochul’s office said the governor is committed to making sure SUNY and CUNY have the funds they need. Hochul’s proposed 2026 budget includes $207 million in new state support for the state’s public higher education campuses. Her office adds that federal support is “absolutely crucial and the state is working with the New York State Attorney General to protect the institutions from unauthorized attempts to cut or freeze federal funding.”

Earlier in February, Hochul said New York receives $5.5 billion in federal education funding annually.

“$3.2 billion goes directly into our budget. $2.3 billion goes to localities. If that money is jeopardized, what I can tell you will happen,” Hochul says. “Localities lose that money, they will have to raise taxes for outside the city, your largest part of your local property tax bill is your school taxes. If that money evaporates from the federal government, where are they going to go? This is going to hit homeowners and businesses, and I want them to be aware of this consequence.”

The budget is due by April 1st.

Story by Samantha Simmons/WAMC/New York Public News Network