STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 3417--A 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN SENATE January 27, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. STAVISKY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Higher Education -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to including underrepre- sented ethnic groups in the admission criteria for the science and technology entry program and collegiate science and technology entry program The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Legislative findings. Science, Technology, Engineering, 2 and Mathematics (STEM) professions play a crucial role in New York 3 state's economy, workforce development, and innovation. STEM fields are 4 a cornerstone of economic growth and workforce expansion in New York 5 state. 6 STEM and allied health professions are essential to New York's econom- 7 ic growth, technological advancement, and healthcare infrastructure. 8 While STEM fields drive innovation and economic development, allied 9 health professionals play a crucial role in ensuring accessible and 10 high-quality healthcare services. Continued investment in education, 11 workforce development, and industry partnerships will be critical to 12 sustaining both fields. Moving forward, access to STEM and allied health 13 training programs will be essential in meeting workforce demands and 14 supporting the well-being of all New Yorkers. 15 The Science and Technology Entry Program (STEP) and Collegiate Science 16 and Technology Entry Program (CSTEP) are important tools to ensure that 17 these programs are available to all aspiring members of the STEM and 18 licensed professional workforces. These programs will continue to build 19 on their legacy of ensuring representation in the fields they serve, 20 which will strengthen our state's workforce and economy. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD07779-02-5
S. 3417--A 2 1 Representation in the workforce is critical, especially in New York's 2 healthcare workforce. A 2017 study published in the Journal of General 3 Internal Medicine found that Black and Hispanic patients were more like- 4 ly to report feeling comfortable discussing sensitive topics with a 5 provider of the same race or ethnicity. A 2019 study published in the 6 Journal of Health Care Administration found that culturally competent 7 care was associated with improved patient satisfaction, adherence to 8 treatment, and health outcomes. Further a 2020 report by the National 9 Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine found that a diverse 10 healthcare workforce can improve access to care for underserved popu- 11 lations. These benefits are not limited to healthcare. A 2017 study 12 published in Nature and a 2019 study in the Harvard Business Review 13 found that diverse teams outperform homogenous teams in terms of creati- 14 vity and problem-solving. This means that the health and economic future 15 of our state is dependent on the diversity of our workforce. 16 STEP and CSTEP have a successful history of bringing underrepresented 17 students into STEM licensed professions and health professions fields. 18 These programs create academic opportunities for students who have faced 19 disadvantages and discrimination. To ensure that these programs can 20 continue to fulfill their mission of delivering opportunity and equity 21 to students, the programs' admissions criteria must be updated to be in 22 line with recent legal findings. 23 The STEP and CSTEP admissions criteria must allow for admission of any 24 student from any group underrepresented in a STEM, licensed profession 25 field or health profession field. This will require that the New York 26 State Board of Regents identify underrepresentation in eligible career 27 fields prior to the periodic release of RFPs for STEP and CSTEP. Under- 28 representation shall be determined using available workforce statistics 29 and defined in rules. This determination will provide "focused and meas- 30 urable objectives" (as required by the U.S. Supreme Court) while also 31 having a definable endpoint: the correction of underrepresentation in a 32 specific professional field reviewed on a regular basis (the contractual 33 period defined by an individual RFP). 34 Every ethnic or racial group is underrepresented in various workforce 35 fields in New York. STEP and CSTEP will help rectify that issue and 36 ultimately root out the pernicious impact of underrepresentation in 37 various professions. 38 § 2. Subdivisions 1 and 5 of section 6454 of the education law, as 39 added by chapter 31 of the laws of 1985, subparagraph 4 of paragraph a 40 of subdivision 5 as amended by chapter 439 of the laws of 1988, are 41 amended and a new subdivision 9 is added to read as follows: 42 1. As used in this section: 43 a. ["Council" means the council on professional career opportunity 44 created pursuant to article forty-four of the executive law; 45 b.] "Eligible students" shall mean secondary school students inter- 46 ested in pursing a career in an eligible profession as defined in para- 47 graph c of this subdivision, who are either economically disadvantaged 48 or [minorities historically] a member of an ethnic group that is under- 49 represented in the [scientific, technical, health, and health-related 50 professions as defined by the regents after consultation with the coun- 51 cil; and] eligible profession they are interested in pursuing. 52 [c.] b. "Eligible applicant" shall mean an institution of postsecon- 53 dary education or a consortia of such institutions. 54 c. "Eligible profession" shall mean a scientific, technical, health, 55 health-related profession or any profession licensed pursuant to title 56 eight of this chapter.
S. 3417--A 3 1 5. a. Grants shall be awarded to eligible applicants based upon crite- 2 ria established by the commissioner after consultation with the council, 3 including, but not limited to, the following: 4 (1) an established record of conducting effective collaborative educa- 5 tional programs with neighboring secondary schools; 6 (2) the ability and willingness to cooperate with other postsecondary 7 institutions in operating a program funded pursuant to this section; and 8 (3) the capacity to secure or provide additional support in amounts 9 equal to at least twenty-five percent of the grant sought under this 10 section through private and other governmental sources and through 11 in-kind services[; 12 (4) a location within a school district with an enrollment comprised 13 of at least twenty percent minority group students or a location near 14 such a district that is accessible by public transportation]. 15 b. [The commissioner shall select the grant recipients after consulta- 16 tion with the council.] To the fullest extent practicable the commis- 17 sioner [and the council] shall ensure that grants are awarded to eligi- 18 ble applicants in a diversity of regions of the state. 19 9. The department shall periodically review workforce data to deter- 20 mine levels of ethnic representation in eligible professions. 21 § 3. Subdivisions 1, 2 and 3 of section 6455 of the education law, as 22 added by chapter 285 of the laws of 1986, paragraph (a) of subdivision 2 23 and paragraph (a) of subdivision 3 as amended by chapter 26 of the laws 24 of 2019, and the opening paragraph of subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (a) 25 of subdivision 2 and the opening paragraph of subparagraph (ii) of para- 26 graph (a) of subdivision 3 as amended by chapter 669 of the laws of 27 2022, are amended to read as follows: 28 1. General requirements. The commissioner shall award grants to 29 degree-granting institutions in New York or to consortia of such insti- 30 tutions to be used for the purpose of increasing access by [minority] 31 underrepresented or disadvantaged students to academic programs that 32 have been registered by the commissioner and that prepare students 33 either for licensure in the professions or for employment in scientific 34 and technical fields. 35 2. Undergraduate programs. (a) (i) Undergraduate science and technol- 36 ogy entry program moneys may be used for tutoring, counseling, remedial 37 and special summer courses, supplemental financial assistance, program 38 administration, and other activities which the commissioner may deem 39 appropriate. To be eligible for undergraduate collegiate science and 40 technology entry program support, a student must be a resident of New 41 York, or meet the requirements of subparagraph (ii) of this paragraph, 42 and must be either economically disadvantaged or [from a minority] a 43 member of an ethnic group [historically under represented in the scien- 44 tific, technical, health and health-related professions] that is under- 45 represented in the eligible profession or field they are pursuing, as 46 defined by the regents prior to the release of periodic applications for 47 funding, and must demonstrate interest in and a potential for a profes- 48 sional career if provided special services. Eligible students must be in 49 good academic standing, enrolled full time in an approved, undergraduate 50 level program of study, as defined by the regents. 51 (ii) An applicant who is not a legal resident of New York state, but 52 who is a United States citizen, a permanent lawful resident, an individ- 53 ual who is granted U or T non-immigrant status pursuant to the Victims 54 of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000, a person granted 55 temporary protected status pursuant to the Federal Immigration Act of 56 1990, an individual of a class of refugees paroled by the attorney
S. 3417--A 4 1 general of the United States under [his or her] such attorney general's 2 parole authority pertaining to the admission of noncitizens to the 3 United States, or an applicant without lawful immigration status, shall 4 be eligible for an award at the undergraduate level of study provided 5 that the student: 6 (1) attended a registered New York state high school for two or more 7 years, graduated from a registered New York state high school and 8 applied for attendance at the institution of higher education for the 9 undergraduate study for which an award is sought within five years of 10 receiving a New York state high school diploma; or 11 (2) attended an approved New York state program for a state high 12 school equivalency diploma, received a state high school equivalency 13 diploma and applied for attendance at the institution of higher educa- 14 tion for the undergraduate study for which an award is sought within 15 five years of receiving a state high school equivalency diploma; or 16 (3) is otherwise eligible for the payment of tuition and fees at a 17 rate no greater than that imposed for resident students of the state 18 university of New York, the city university of New York or community 19 colleges as prescribed in subparagraph eight of paragraph h of subdivi- 20 sion two of section three hundred fifty-five or paragraph (a) of subdi- 21 vision seven of section sixty-two hundred six of this chapter. 22 Provided, further, that a student without lawful immigration status 23 shall also be required to file an affidavit with such institution of 24 higher education stating that the student has filed an application to 25 legalize [his or her] such student's immigration status, or will file 26 such an application as soon as [he or she] such student is eligible to 27 do so. 28 (b) Applications for funding shall be submitted by eligible insti- 29 tutions to the department in accordance with requirements established by 30 the commissioner. Priority consideration shall be given to institutions 31 which coordinate their efforts to increase [minority access] represen- 32 tation of underrepresented ethnic groups with similar activities for 33 programs at the secondary level in accordance with this section. Grants 34 shall be awarded based on criteria established by the commissioner. 35 3. Graduate programs. (a) (i) Graduate science and technology entry 36 program moneys may be used for recruitment, academic enrichment, career 37 planning, supplemental financial assistance, review for licensing exam- 38 inations, program administration, and other activities which the commis- 39 sioner may deem appropriate. To be eligible for graduate collegiate 40 science and technology entry program support, a student must be a resi- 41 dent of New York, or meet the requirements of subparagraph (ii) of this 42 paragraph, and must be either economically disadvantaged or [from] a 43 [minority] member of an ethnic group [historically] that is underrepre- 44 sented in the [scientific, technical and health-related professions] 45 eligible profession or field they are pursuing as defined by the regents 46 prior to the release of periodic applications for funding. Eligible 47 students must be in good academic standing, enrolled full time in an 48 approved graduate level program, as defined by the regents. 49 (ii) An applicant who is not a legal resident of New York state, but 50 either is a United States citizen, a permanent lawful resident, an indi- 51 vidual who is granted U or T non-immigrant status pursuant to the 52 Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000, a person 53 granted temporary protected status pursuant to the Federal Immigration 54 Act of 1990, an individual of a class of refugees paroled by the attor- 55 ney general of the United States under [his or her] such attorney gener- 56 al's parole authority pertaining to the admission of noncitizens to the
S. 3417--A 5 1 United States, or an applicant without lawful immigration status shall 2 be eligible for an award at the graduate level of study provided that 3 the student: 4 (1) attended a registered approved New York state high school for two 5 or more years, graduated from a registered New York state high school 6 and applied for attendance at the institution of higher education for 7 the graduate study for which an award is sought within ten years of 8 receiving a New York state high school diploma; or 9 (2) attended an approved New York state program for a state high 10 school equivalency diploma, received a state high school equivalency 11 diploma and applied for attendance at the institution of higher educa- 12 tion for the graduate study for which an award is sought within ten 13 years of receiving a state high school equivalency diploma; or 14 (3) is otherwise eligible for the payment of tuition and fees at a 15 rate no greater than that imposed for resident students of the state 16 university of New York, the city university of New York or community 17 colleges as prescribed in subparagraph eight of paragraph h of subdivi- 18 sion two of section three hundred fifty-five or paragraph (a) of subdi- 19 vision seven of section sixty-two hundred six of this chapter. 20 Provided, further, that a student without lawful immigration status 21 shall also be required to file an affidavit with such institution of 22 higher education stating that the student has filed an application to 23 legalize [his or her] such student's immigration status, or will file 24 such an application as soon as [he or she] such student is eligible to 25 do so. 26 (b) Applications for funding shall be made by eligible institutions in 27 accordance with requirements established by the commissioner. Grants 28 shall be awarded based on criteria established by the commissioner. 29 Priority consideration shall be given to institutions which coordinate 30 their efforts to increase [minority access] representation of underrep- 31 resented ethnic groups with similar activities at the undergraduate 32 level. 33 § 4. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall 34 have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or 35 repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of 36 this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and completed 37 on or before such effective date.