Guv backs student loan plan

We are the largest urban state that doesn't have these loans, the only large state in the union that doesn't have them, the only state in the Northeast that doesn't have them," Paterson said. With the economic downturn, "this is the kind of remedy that we're going to need during this crisis."
The loan program, a version of which was approved by the State Senate last month, is among the recommendations from the state Commission on Higher Education, which delivered its report yesterday. Paterson endorsed those, including the loans, that would cost the state little, such as giving SUNY and CUNY more flexibility to lease property.
Others, including hiring 2,000 faculty and creating a $3-billion science research grant program, are unlikely to get far, given the state's budget crisis.
There are obviously some proposals that would be of high cost," Paterson said. "There are many we won't be able to do, but a lot that we're going to have to consider doing." He said he would introduce legislation for the loans as part of next year's budget plan.
The loan program would be funded by tax-exempt bonds, and could cut interest rates by as much as half, according to Sen. Kenneth P. LaValle (R-Port Jefferson), chairman of the Higher Education Committee. "The savings for parents on this would be huge," said LaValle, sponsor of the "I Live New York" student loan bill passed by the Senate in June.
He called on Paterson to push the Assembly to return to Albany this summer and approve his bill. A spokeswoman for Paterson, Marissa Shorenstein, said the governor's plan differs slightly from LaValle's, including which agency would administer the loans and the structure of the bonds.
In its final report, the state panel, created by former Gov. Eliot Spitzer, sidestepped a controversial proposal advanced by Spitzer: designating Stony Brook University and the State University at Buffalo as SUNY's flagship campuses. They are the only SUNY schools in the Association of American Universities, a group of top research schools.
Still, the panel's intention was for the state to invest most heavily in the four university centers, said its chairman, Hunter Rawlings, president emeritus of Cornell University.
"Flagship, schmagship," Rawlings said. "We're not using the word 'flagship' because it's just a hot-button word [but] when you address the questions 'Where are you going to focus your resources and your money and your top talent,' I think we're pretty clear on those matters."