New York Senate Bill S06061

New York 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 3/5/25
• Refer: 3/5/25
• Refer: 1/7/26

Caption

Relates to establishing the COVID-19 children scholarship; provides that children whose parent, primary caretaker or sibling died or was disabled as a result of contracting COVID-19 shall be eligible for such scholarship.

Summary

This bill would create a new “COVID-19 children scholarship” program in New York State for children whose parent, primary caretaker, or sibling died or became disabled as a result of contracting COVID-19. Eligible students could receive annual scholarships for undergraduate study, generally for up to four academic years, or five years for programs that normally require five years. The bill sets scholarship amounts based on the type of institution attended. For CUNY and SUNY schools, the award would cover tuition, mandatory fees, and non-tuition costs of attendance, subject to limits tied to total cost of attendance and reduced by other aid. For other in-state two-year and four-year institutions, the award would be based on SUNY tuition, average fees, and non-tuition costs, with a minimum annual award of $2,500. The bill also specifies that total aid cannot exceed the student’s cost of attendance and that duplicate benefits are excluded.

Impact

The bill would amend the New York Education Law by adding a new scholarship category and related eligibility, award, and administration provisions. It would also add the scholarship to the list of education programs recognized in the law, making the program part of the state’s higher education financial aid framework. In practical terms, it would create a new state-funded aid stream for affected students and require the State University, City University, and other New York institutions to coordinate awards with existing financial aid rules.

Sentiment

The bill text and caption suggest a sympathetic, relief-oriented purpose focused on children who lost a caregiver or sibling to COVID-19. No committee transcripts or recorded votes were provided, so there is no direct evidence of debate or formal support/opposition in the available materials. Based on the bill’s structure, the measure appears designed to provide targeted educational assistance rather than broad-based aid.

Contention

The main policy issues likely to arise are eligibility boundaries, cost, and coordination with existing aid programs. The bill limits eligibility to children of a parent, primary caretaker, or sibling who died or became disabled from COVID-19, which may prompt questions about proof standards and whether the class is too narrow or too broad. Another likely point of contention is fiscal impact, since the scholarship can cover substantial attendance costs, though the bill attempts to cap awards at total cost of attendance and offset them with other aid. Institutions and budget officials may also focus on how the award formulas would be administered across different campuses and how the program would interact with Pell Grants and other scholarships.