April has been a big month in the world of politics. The media and political intellectuals have rallied behind President Trump’s response to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and handling of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to the Southern White House. Our neighbors to the north are preparing legislation that would legalize recreational marijuana throughout Canada. But the news with the most important implications for Odyssey readers, particularly those attending a public institution of higher education, is New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s tuition-free college initiative.

“Today, college is what high school was - it should always be an option even if you can’t afford it,” claims Governor Cuomo as he rallied New Yorkers around his first-in-the-nation plan which was approved with the passage of the fiscal year 2018 state budget. Governor Cuomo is expected to sign the budget on April 18th.

Specifically, the tuition-free degree program covers tuition for families making $125,000 or less per year. The plan estimates that 940,000 middle class families and individuals will be impacted by the program. To clarify, students attending state universities and city universities in the New York system, falling in the prescribed income bracket, will qualify for a tuition-free education lasting two or four years.

The crux of the plan flaunts the Excelsior Scholarship: a last-dollar scholarship granted to qualifying students that will serve as the primary vehicle of delivery for Governor Cuomo’s affordability initiative. Students entering a public New York institution will be the first recipients of the Excelsior Scholarship, but not everybody making $125,000 will be covered right off the bat. A three-year phase-in provision structures the program with New Yorkers making up to $100,000 receiving aid in the fall. Those making $110,000 or less will be welcomed in 2018 followed by the remaining constituents of the income bracket in 2019.

Governor Cuomo’s program carries additional requirements for Excelsior scholars. Scholars must be attending full time and must finish their respective program, two year associate’s degree or a four year bachelor’s, on time. To complement the effort made by the pockets of New York taxpayers, Excelsior graduates must also stay in the state for at least two years after graduation.

Before we delve into the criticism, let’s acknowledge the fact that Cuomo’s initiative is indeed unique and admirable. Other states have been able to offer tuition-free programs at some scale like Oregon and Tennessee, but New York carries astounding political capital. The state is viewed as a haven for Democrats, but the state legislature is split between Democrats and Republicans. It sends a signal that Democrats can enact key pieces of their agenda if they rid themselves of Trump nausea. Not only will this legislative success embolden Democrats in other states to pursue tuition-free bills, but it is certain that Governor Cuomo is set on challenging the Republican establishment in 2020. Add the Excelsior Scholarship and a Bernie Sanders endorsement to his stump speech.

Now, let’s delve into the glaring holes that President Donald Trump, or other Republican candidates, will poke at throughout the campaign trail. First, it is irrefutable that the main beneficiaries of this plan will be upper-middle class families. At many public institutions, low-income and lower-middle class individuals already receive public grants that help cover tuition costs. In New York specifically, tuition costs vary from $4,800 to $6,470 depending on the type of institution. Federal and state grants eliminate tuition for families making less than $50,000. Other students receive help from federal Pell grants. Ultimately, low-income students from states with similar aid packages would not benefit from tuition-free proposals, leaving them responsible for costs expanding beyond tuition. Here is the core of the affordability debate: low-income students cannot afford the costs of housing, transportation, food, and other alternative costs.

Quite frankly, the Excelsior scholarship is useless for low-income families, but upper-middle class students who depended on loans and some out-of-pocket payments received a large boost. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that, but gross cognitive dissonance emerges, crippling Governor Cuomo’s message of affordability. When low-income students continue to suffer from housing costs, taking on high interest loans, while the burden has been eased tremendously for the family making $120,000 per year, there is a problem with your fight against rising college costs.

The program’s demand for students to study full time and on time neglects the fact that only 34 percent of freshmen at public universities nationwide graduate within four years. Additionally, limiting students to New York’s industry is inefficient, particularly for those seeking tech opportunities in Silicon Valley.

This cannot be the approach employed by Democrats seeking to tackle rising college costs. Inadvertently, Governor Cuomo has failed to acknowledge the real driver of rising costs and sources of financial burden. We must applaud any effort to facilitate social mobility, especially when college costs continue to rise while median household income falls behind. But a truly comprehensive approach must help low-income students overcome non-tuition costs.