Applying to college just got cheaper for some of the city’s poorest families.
Mayor de Blasio and CUNY officials announced Monday that the $65 application fee currently required by the city’s public colleges will now be waived for low-income public school kids.
Officials say the change in policy will benefit an estimated 37,500 high school seniors this year alone.
For struggling families, de Blasio said, “$65 matters.”
“This is something that we think is going to make a big difference,” he said to a source.
Eligible schoolkids include students who live in homeless shelters or are in the foster-care system. The program also extends to kids who are eligible for federal free and reduced-price lunch programs.
To be eligible for those programs, a family of three must earn about $37,000 or less annually.
The initiative will cost $2.4 million a year, most of which is coming from city coffers, and allow the eligible kids to apply to up to six City University of New York schools for free.
Nearly 60% of New York City college-bound public school kids end up enrolling in CUNY schools, according to CUNY Chancellor James Milliken.
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