Video, Audio & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul Expands Free Community College Access for Tens of Thousands More Adult Learners Across New York

Governor Kathy Hochul today announced a new expansion of her free community college initiative for New Yorkers between ages 25 and 55, as part of her nation-leading actions to proactively address the unprecedented impacts of AI on the workforce. Starting in January, New Yorkers 25 to 55 can enroll in a SUNY or CUNY associate degree program in a high-demand field for free, even if they have already completed a college degree in a different area. The initiative will increase access for tens of thousands more adult learners by allowing individuals with existing credentials to pivot careers and gain valuable qualifications in high-growth sectors such as advanced manufacturing without accumulating debt for tuition, fees, books and supplies.

VIDEO: The event is available to stream on YouTube here and TV quality video is available here (h.264, mp4).

AUDIO: The Governor's remarks are available in audio form here.

PHOTOS: The Governor's Flickr page will post photos of the event here.

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:

Good morning, Buffalo. I'm going to say it even though it hurts a little bit. Go Bills. There's always another Sunday or a Monday night football, right? We never give up the faith.

I'm so proud of you back in this space. I've been here so many times. I want you to know this - I do what I do because of where I come from. I come from these neighborhoods, I come from this community and when I see programs like Northland, they're just blossoming and changing people's lives one person at a time. It makes me so proud. And I want to thank the leader of this institution. We've been dear friends for a long time. Steven Tucker, my gratitude to everything you do, you've been amazing, thank you very much, Steven.

And I think one of the reasons we do so well is because we've got a lot of clout in Albany - not just the Governor - we've got Crystal Peoples-Stokes and I want to thank our Majority leader who's been a real leader. Not just a title leader, she's a real leader and she's been making a profound difference in her neighborhood ever since she first ran for office many, many years ago. Another round of applause for our great leader, Crystal Peoples-Stokes.

John King, who has done an amazing job transforming higher education in the State of New York because I knew he would. He had me at hello when I was first doing some meetings early on and I said, "We're going to change, we're going to shake things up because you know I hate the status quo," and you've delivered in ways that I could not be more proud to think about and you bring such great ideas, ideas like this to us. And we're doing our budgets which cost me a lot of money John, but I'm there with you alright - John King.

We'll be hearing from Frank Rosa, one of our students at Northland. I just had a chance to talk to Frank about his work that he's doing in his electrical construction job. I said, "You're going to have a job for the rest of your life." Anybody is learning these skilled trades is setting themselves up for incredible success.

I also want to shout out to our local delegation here, Senator Jeremy Zellner. Give him a round of applause. Assemblymember Karen McMahon and our County Executive, Mark Poloncarz, who's been leading this county for a long time. You have a number of college presidents who John will recognize and as well as all of you who are just hanging out this morning.

There's no better place to make today's announcement than right here for a number of reasons, but every day this place is preparing Buffalonians and Western New Yorkers from all over for a whole new change in their lives - good paying careers and high demand fields. And I think they want to put an emphasis on that: High demand fields. And today, we're going to make that opportunity available to even more New Yorkers to build the skills they need for them to build a better future for themselves because New York's economy is growing and it's growing fast, it is changing rapidly.

Just last week and if you don't know about this, I want you to put it out on social media and tell everybody you know. They showed that New York's economy grew four percent in the second quarter, double the national average. We're the number one economy in the United States of America, New York. New York - yes - repeat that. It didn't happen by accident. We've been making historic investments in growing industries, people know this is the place to be now. We've banished that reputation of being hostile to business or hostile to people coming here, we embrace this and this is a very, very unique time in our history. Those investments are paying off, bringing new businesses and good paying jobs to New York and really focusing on the workforce.

I just was with a group of business leaders a few minutes ago and they all want to know what we're doing to build the workforce. I said, "You tell me what skills you're looking for. What are you going to need? Not today, today is over. Two years, three years, five years down the road. Tell us the skills, and we'll make sure you have the workforce prepared to achieve that for you. So we can have the smartest, the best, the most engaged workforce ever."

So that's how we're becoming more competitive - that is setting New York State apart. But creating those jobs is only one part of the puzzle. We have to make sure that New Yorkers are ready to step in them, as I said. Now, artificial intelligence and other technologies are transforming businesses, reshaping jobs, changing the skills that workers need to succeed and we've looked at this from both sides. Now, employers across New York need more skilled workers. I've said that many times. And New Yorkers want better paying jobs and careers, but they can't necessarily go back to school and here's the dynamic.

As I think about this, I spent a lot of time talking to young people. I go to visit high schools, what should I go into? I said, "Well, a couple of areas I'm going to recommend. One is you go into the trades. The trades, this is where you're going to have a job forever, but also or STEM careers or learn computer coding and computer science because those jobs will be there forever." Guess what? Those are the ones that are most vulnerable to displacement because of AI. AI is doing those jobs and so we're trying to figure this out. What I don't want to see happen in Western New York or anywhere in the state, what we all experienced when people put all their hopes and dreams in a job, whether it's at the Bethlehem Steel plant or when the Ford plant was bigger or the GM plant had more employees.

Those legacy industries that we assume would be here forever, all of a sudden, they're gone. And it took 40 to 50 years to figure out the next step. But in the meantime, so many people had to leave the area. I remember growing up, people used to say, "Last one out, turn out the lights." Do you know what that does to a psychology of a region? And I'm looking at other people like Mark Poloncarz - Lackawanna Steel working family. You know what this does to you? It just takes you down and you don't know if you're ever going to get back up. And it's not your fault you went there, you took the job, you worked hard, you gave them your sweat, gave them your time and you feel like you've been betrayed and that hurts. No one at the time said, "Well, how do we take all these former steelworkers or people who worked in the offices or all the supply industries that supported that?" No one said, "What do we do with them now? Everybody just sort of dispersed." And that's when my hometown would have signs, little Hamburg, that looks so vibrant now - what a transformation. At the time it was going out of business signs everywhere in our downtown. So that memory is so steeped in who I am that I cannot let that happen in this moment of radical transformation in the economy, mostly driven by AI.

So that's why we're here today to not let that happen, to be prepared this time, to let people know what's in store, what the best knowledge that we have at this moment to impart that to them. And in anticipation of this, last year in New York, we launched a brand new program, SUNY and CUNY Reconnect. And what this does is it recognizes that there's people 25 to 55 - some may not have figured out what they want to do yet, so they've never taken a step toward college or someone who's mid-career, who's finding that things are rapidly changing and they don't want to be left behind, so they want to get really skilled. So we decided to make community college completely free for people aged 25 to 55 who are pursuing careers in high demand fields, and New Yorkers took us up on that opportunity.

Since 2025, more than 15,000 adult learners have accessed free community college for this initiative. I just talked to our college presidents from Niagara Community College and Erie Community College in Alfred, and they're telling me their numbers. The enrollment is going up dramatically. Now, again, this isn't - the same time we have these demographic changes. We've known for a long time that families are shrinking, that there's going to be fewer 18 year olds knocking on the door of a college because there's fewer people being born, right? I come from - my father had 8 kids. We had six, I had two, my kids are each having one. So, that's a trend that you can't do anything about, but it has an effect on our enrollment.

So not only is it good for the individuals who found their way to this program not having to pay for a dime - not the books, not the fees, nor the tuition - but it's also helping bring new energy to our institutions like ECC and NCC in Alfred as well, and all across the state. And that just brings me such joy, because this is an opportunity for people to think about something that maybe they never contemplated. Maybe when you're 20, 18, 19, 20, you're not thinking about college in the traditional sense, but we have had so many people improve their lives with this, but never wanted to rest on our laurels. You know me, have to always push higher, push higher. We're taking the next step.

I'm proud to announce that we're now offering free community college to tens of thousands more New Yorkers. Starting in January, someone aged 25 to 55 can pursue a high-demand degree, associate's degree, at SUNY or CUNY tuition free, even if they already have another college degree in another field. Because right now - because that was one of the restrictions. It's got to be someone going to college for the first time, which made sense until you stepped back and said, "Well, with AI now becoming a force in this very short time, literally hour by hour, it seems to be changing that. What about people who put all their hopes and dreams in a particular degree?" And now that degree is either becoming obsolete or as I look at as I'm studying the fields that are most affected, 84 percent of the jobs that are most affected by AI displacement are held by women. Yeah. Not a good dynamic.

So there's a lot of people thinking about, "If I want to wait until I find out I get the pink slip, or am I going to start improving myself and going to these fields that New York State has identified as jobs where there's openings as we speak." We have a long list of them. So, it shouldn't prevent you from getting the skills now just because you already have a degree. And we need more people in so many different areas. Maybe your industry is moving in a different direction, maybe you just want to try something new, a blooming field. Maybe you're just ready for a second act, right? So for whatever reason, we're going to let you do that. And for a working parent, that means going back to school can fit into your job, raise a family, pay the bills and not worry about the cost of tuition. Can you imagine that? And that's how you can get ready for a whole new career.

By covering the cost of tuition we're making it easier for New Yorkers to invest in themselves and their future. We know it won't meet every challenge. We still know there's a lot out there. And that's why I launched something called the FutureWorks Commission much earlier in the year. And this came out of an experience I had when I gathered young people in my office who had all lost their jobs because of AI. They weren't guessing. The employer told them that, "Your job has now been eliminated because of AI. We can do things more efficiently without you."

Now, these are people who had careers in computer science and coding, and they felt that the world had just been turned upside down. They did everything right. Everything that, for a generation, people told them to do: "Oh, yes, this is the future." And one young woman had an incredible resume. She said, "I've been looking for a job for months. I'm starting to feel worthless. I don't know what to do." And it's like, I'm a mom. I'm just hugging everybody. I mean, this is painful. This is painful. And how are you going to pay the bills.

So I launched the FutureWorks Commission to really take a look at bringing together leaders in labor and business and academia to help us prepare for what's ahead. You know, expert industry experts from all over. I need to be able to develop new strategies to help workers adapt, find new jobs and stay financially secure because we're not waiting for the future to happen to New Yorkers. We're making sure they're ready for whatever happens next.

And as I said, that mission was personal. We lived through that here. Western New York, down the Thruway. Rochester had happened. Syracuse had happened. Albany had happened. Utica had happened. Upstate was slammed for a long time. But the doors of education can change everything. Like my own dad, I just literally, someone sent me a picture of my dad at the trailer park yesterday. I had never seen that photo before. And he got out of that because he was able to get a college degree while he was still working at the steel plant, and he could get a different job instead of the hard, gritty work that he was doing. He could move into a different, more clerical job. Then later, he could start a whole new chapter in his life when he was 30 years old, by helping develop a business that was just brand new.

Lives change with an education. I've lived it. That's the power of that experience. So what we're doing here today, and the thousands of people who will never look back now, they will not be left on the sidelines. They may not be kicked to the curb. They'll know they matter. They matter to this Governor. They matter to this Chancellor, our elected officials. And we're not going to let anyone be left behind. I want everyone to have the same opportunity that my family have, with the power of education, to lift them out of their circumstances, to keep learning, to keep growing and build a better future for their families. That's what we do here in the great State of New York. Thank you very much, everyone. Thank you, thank you. Let me call up the greatest Chancellor in all of America. Chancellor John King.