How New York’s Free College Plan Could Disrupt Higher Ed Market - Kirk Carapezza, WGBH

Last week, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a bill making the Empire State the first state to cover tuition at all public colleges and universities for low- and income families. Under the new law, students whose families earn up to $125,000 won't have to pay tuition at the state's community colleges or four-year universities. “I think they should be worried because it's the same admission market," said Brian Mitchell, the former president of Bucknell University in Pennsylvania. Mitchell expects Cuomo's plan will reduce out-of-state admissions at private schools in the northeast. “If you are subsidizing public sector tuition in the sense of making it free, you put the privates at a profound disadvantage,” Mitchell said. “It's not just the privates in New York State, but it's the privates in Pennsylvania and in Massachusetts. The first second and third largest collection of private colleges are in New York, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts respectively, and they should all pay close attention to this." http://blogs.wgbh.org/on-campus/2017/4/20/how-new-yorks-free-college-plan-could-disrupt-higher-ed-market/