Potential For Free Tuition Raising New Concerns For Higher Learning In New York State

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- It's getting harder to get into sought-after SUNY schools thanks largely to perks that make them potentially tuition-free.

While many liberal arts colleges are struggling, one Long Island college is rapidly growing and it doesn't take a higher degree know why.

"People just want to have a job right out of school, and not have debt to pay off for years on end," Farmingdale State College dental hygiene student Nidia Arita said.

FSC is training the dental hygienists, landscape designers, pilots, and business managers of tomorrow while boasting a 90 percent job placement or grad school record.

What's more, the price is right.

"The average cost is $7,000," nursing student John Sciarrona said. "With financial aid it almost goes down to nothing."

The appeal of a potentially free college education has led to growing pains in a state school that's come a long way from its agricultural roots from over a century ago.

Enrollment is up 47 percent in ten years, as is competition to get in. Applications are up almost 30 percent in three years.

"Our incoming high school average for fall freshmen in fall 2018 was just about 90 so we have become a very selective institution," Pat Calabria from the school's enrollment management department said. "I don't think we are alone among SUNYs in that."

Because of that, Farmingdale is asking Albany for money to grow.

"The college is nearing the point of being unable to accommodate further enrollment growth, and we do not want to turn away deserving students," FSC President John Nader said.

The school's seeking more than $50 million to build a new applied sciences program to keep students and jobs local.

"Our local Long Island economy needs our local Long Island talent," State Assemblyman Steve Stern (D-10th) said.

This year's acceptance rate at FSC is around 43 percent.