Free College Tuition: New York Becomes First State To Guarantee Affordable Bachelor's Degree

New York will became the first state in the nation to guarantee free tuition for the middle class at public four-year college Sunday. The budget put aside $163 million dollars to pay for tuition at the state's public universities for all families earning less than $125,000 a year.

"New York is well-positioned to benefit from the industries of tomorrow and this budget ensures that our young people will have a full and equal opportunity to compete for high-paying jobs, without having to incur a mountain of debt in the process," New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in an op-ed published Sunday night in the New York Daily News. Nearly 80 percent of New York families will qualify for the program, called the Excelsior Scholarship, the governor said.

Read: Free College For All? Bernie Sanders And Elizabeth Warren Battle Trump With New Tuition Bill​

The Excelsior Scholarship will be phased in over three years. Students with families making less than $100,000 a year will be eligible for tuition-free education in the fall of 2017. Families making between $100,000 and $110,000 will also be eligible in 2018, and all families making less than $125,000 are scheduled to become eligible in 2019.

New York has two public university systems. The City University of New York (CUNY) includes 24 senior and community colleges and graduate schools across New York City, which is home to more than 40 percent of the nearly 20 million people who live in New York. The State University of New York (SUNY) has 64 campuses throughout the state. In-state tuition at both universities is about $6,500 a year.

Students must be enrolled full time to be eligible for the program, which the governor initially proposed in January.

While New York is the only state to guarantee free tuition for middle class families, progressives have begun to call for a similar funding apparatus on a national level. Last week, independent Vermont senator and former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders introduced legislation that would amend the Higher Education Act to provide tuition-free college education to families earning less than $125,000 a year.

The average college graduate has $30,000 in debt, according to a report published in October by the Institute For College Access & Success.