Top 10% Promise Program offers students automatic acceptance at SUNY schools 

Top students at a number of New York high schools will automatically be accepted to certain SUNY colleges and universities under a program that officials say aims to make higher education more accessible.

The Top 10% Promise Program was created to give students with GPAs in the top 10% of their class direct admission into nine participating colleges and universities, according to a news release from Gov. Kathy Hochul's office. 

SUNY officials said 68 school districts across the state were invited to participate in the first year of the program, but currently only 39 have accepted, and just one of them on Long Island: Hempstead. School officials in that district did not immediately return a request for comment.

The districts were invited to participate "based on serving rural, urban, and suburban communities with high levels of adversity or enrolling a significant share of students from low-income backgrounds," according to the release.

Students and schools must opt in to the program. Three other Long Island districts, Amityville, Brentwood and Wyandanch, also were invited to join, SUNY officials said. There is no deadline to accept the state’s invitation, they said. 

Hochul, in the release, said the program "will help reduce barriers to higher education while ensuring our students can continue their education and pursue their dreams right here in New York State."

The program will take effect for high school seniors enrolling for the fall 2025 semester, the release said. Stony Brook University is the only Long Island university currently participating.

Mark Cortez, that university's executive director of admissions, said, "Overall, we’re looking at this program as an opportunity to introduce Stony Brook University to students, who perhaps were not considering Stony Brook for a number of reasons."

Other SUNYs participating are University at Albany; University at Buffalo; SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry; SUNY Geneseo; SUNY New Paltz; SUNY Oneonta; SUNY Purchase College; and SUNY Polytechnic Institute.

Cortez said a student is guaranteed at least one acceptance but could see more.

"They will be reviewed to all nine campuses, but they will still get to choose which campus they attend based on which ones they’re admitted," he said.

Eligible students must also be on track to graduate with an advanced Regents or an international baccalaureate diploma, according to SUNY officials. A high school senior who is on track to graduate with a Regents diploma and has achieved a certain score on standardized exams also may meet the criteria.

An admission decision for students could come as early as next month.

While the program is not currently offered to all high schools, SUNY and state officials said they want to expand it to all schools and add more SUNY universities. 

In Hicksville, educators welcome that kind of a program. 

Efthymia Rafaelides, supervisor of guidance services at Hicksville public schools, said the program would "open the door for our top performing students."

Counselors are currently processing college applications for about 450 to 500 students, according to Veronica Velez, a guidance counselor in Hicksville schools.

"We know this would be an initiative that would really open it up for all of the students to have opportunities at all of these schools," Velez said.