NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — Governor Kathy Hochul announced the launch of the SUNY Top 10% Promise Program on Thursday, an initiative to create a direct pathway for the highest-achieving New York high school seniors to gain admission and enroll at select SUNY colleges and universities.
"Access to higher education has the potential to transform New Yorkers' lives and change the trajectory of a student’s life," Hochul said. "Offering New York students graduating in the top 10 percent of their class direct admission to SUNY campuses will help reduce barriers to higher education while ensuring our students can continue their education and pursue their dreams right here in New York State."
The Top 10% Promise will take effect for select high school seniors preparing to enroll for the Fall 2025 semester. The program is a direct-admissions program that automatically grants acceptance to graduating high school students whose GPAs are in the top 10% of their class and meet specific academic readiness criteria to at least one selective SUNY campus.
The nine initial participating campuses are: University at Albany, University at Buffalo, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, SUNY Geneseo, SUNY New Paltz, SUNY Oneonta, SUNY Polytechnic Institute, Purchase College, and Stony Brook University.
In the first year, 68 school districts and individual charter schools from across the state were invited to participate. Once the program is in place, students in all New York State school districts will be eligible.
Earlier this month, Hochul announced that following the increase in income thresholds secured in the FY25 Enacted Budget, over 40,000 newly eligible New York State students submitted Tuition Assistance Program applications for the 2024-25 academic year.