New York Approves Free College Tuition, So Obviously Everyone Else Is Jealous

It's official: Starting this fall, New York will become the first state to allow full-time students at its public colleges to attend school for free.

The rules are simple: If a student's family makes less than $100,000 a year, the student will be eligible for the new Excelsior Scholarship, which covers tuition at SUNY (State University of New York) and CUNY (City University of New York) institutions.

In 2018, the limit for family income will increase to $110,000. It will once again increase in 2019 to $125,000.

The scholarship won't cover room and board, but is expected to help as many as 940,000 families avoid paying around $6,400 annually. That's the average price for a public four-year institution in New York, according to CNN.

In an op-ed for the New York Daily News, Governor Andrew Cuomo wrote,

Nearly 80 percent of New York families qualify for the program. 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.

The proposal for free tuition was approved by the New York state senate on Sunday night, as part of Cuomo's $153 billion for 2017.

Provided this policy doesn't have any bad ripple effects that might outweigh the good, the introduction of the scholarship is obviously great news.

So, it's no wonder people would welcome the policy.

But there's another type of reaction out there. That reaction is so much less about congratulating New York, and so much more about something else: salt.

Yes, people are salty this policy didn't exist when they were in college.

Nothing sums up that feeling like these tweets:

Meanwhile, people from other states are jealous AF.

None of these reactions are surprising, mind you.

After all, Millennials are pretty much up to their necks in debt. So of course, there's going to be a bit of saltiness when this type of news comes around.

The bottom line is, people are bound to be both happy and just a tiny bit irritated initiatives like the Excelsior Scholarship didn't exist when they were in college.