Gov. Kathy Hochul on Monday announced $8 million in recurring annual funding for the State University of New York’s 30 community colleges to advance health care and mental health goals for New York state and the SUNY system.
According to a news release from Hochul’s office, $5 million will be used to support investments by community colleges to increase enrollment in and completion of health care educational programs, supporting Hochul’s goal of increasing the state’s health care workforce by 20% over the next five years. The remaining $3 million will be used to expand mental health support for SUNY students, which is consistently identified as a critical campus need.
“This investment in our community colleges is another massive step to building the best public education institution in the country, meeting the needs of our students to succeed in high demand jobs across our state,” Hochul said. “Leading in health care is critical for New Yorkers, and this funding is setting up more students to succeed with strong academic programs and resources for their own mental health and wellbeing.”
According to the release, each campus will receive a maximum of $350,000 with a minimum award of $75,000 from the $5 million recurring health care workforce investments, which will help the colleges:
• Hire faculty and expand or establish new healthcare programs;
• Enhance simulation spaces;
• Establish new partnerships and pathways with other SUNY campus health programs; and
• Create partnerships between the campuses and the communities they serve, including high schools, local organizations, BOCES and campus-employer partnerships.
Mental health investments
According to the release, the 2023 annual national Healthy Minds Survey, which surveys college students, reported students deal with depression and anxiety at a rate of 41% and 36% respectively. About two-thirds of SUNY community colleges currently have counseling centers and some use tele-counseling services.
Each community college will receive $100,000 annually from the $3 million mental health investments to:
• Hire new mental health professionals and staff;
• Provide new or expand on virtual tele-health counseling efforts;
• Provide wellness initiatives embedded in workforce development and/or college-to career transition programming; and
• Develop or enhancing initiatives to destigmatize seeking mental health support.
Assemblymember Joe Angelino, R-Norwich, said, “The health care worker shortage hurts everyone in New York, we must do everything in our power to help attract more individuals to the health care field. Investing in our young people to get involved is a great use of resources. I am also very pleased to see they are addressing the mental health crisis occurring across the country and in New York.”