New York State Tuition Assistance Program (TAP)

The New York State Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) helps eligible New York residents pay tuition at approved schools in New York State. Depending on the academic year in which you begin study, an annual TAP award can be up to $5,665. Because TAP is a grant, it does not have to be paid back.

To be eligible for TAP, students must be New York state residents, be attending college full-time, and meet certain New York State Taxable Income limits based on your dependency status. Students must also be in good academic standing, which includes the following components:

  • Pursuit of program

    Pursuit of program tracks withdrawal from courses that result in a student being enrolled for fewer than 12 credit hours in a semester.

  • Satisfactory academic progress

    Satisfactory academic progress looks at both a student's cumulative GPA and the accumulation of credit hours toward a degree.

Students who fail to maintain good academic standing become ineligible for TAP until they achieve the appropriate standards without the assistance of state funding. In exceptional situations, students who become ineligible may be granted a one-time waiver of their ineligibility. All waiver requests should be submitted to the Financial Aid Office in Ball Hall.

Course Repeats

TAP policy only allows students to repeat courses that were previously failed. Therefore, if a student is repeating a class with a passing grade and wants to receive TAP they must be enrolled for at least 12 credits in addition to the course(s) they are repeating.

Students are now limited to repeating a course once. If a student registers for a course a third time it is considered an illegal repeat and will not be used in determining a student's credit load for financial aid purposes.