§ 352-a. Maritime college; admissions program. 1. There shall be created an admissions program for the state university of New York maritime college as established pursuant to section three hundred fifty-two of this article in which certain elected officials shall nominate students for placement in such college's regimental/cadet degree system.

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2. (a) Maritime college shall have a total of two hundred eighty-four vacancy positions set aside for applicants who are nominated by the governor, a state senator or a member of the assembly. Such vacancy nominations shall increase or decrease based upon the number of senate districts authorized pursuant to article three of the New York state constitution. An applicant who receives such a nomination, is accepted for admission into the college and participates in the regimental program shall receive a scholarship equal to the amount of the state tuition charge after the deduction of any available grant aid for the four consecutive years following his or her admission into the program provided, however, that the student remains in the regimental/cadet degree program and remains at all times in good academic standing as determined by the maritime college administration. In no event shall a student lose his or her scholarship based upon legislative reapportionment or changes in legislative composition or membership. Nothing herein shall be construed to limit or reduce the number of vacancies available to the general population.

(b) To be eligible to receive such nomination and scholarship, the applicant must be a resident of the state. For purposes of this section, a state resident shall be defined as a person who has resided in the state of New York for a period of at least one year prior to the time of nomination, is a graduate or within one year of graduation from an approved high school or has attained a New York state high school equivalency diploma or its equivalent as determined by the commissioner.

3. The vacancy nominations shall be distributed as follows: five for the governor, five for the majority leader of the senate, five for the speaker of the assembly, two for each state senator other than the majority leader of the senate and one for each member of the assembly other than the speaker of the assembly. The governor and each member of the legislature shall provide one principal and three alternative nominations for consideration for admission. Final admission decisions shall remain with the college and within administrative procedures and criteria.

4. The state university of New York shall provide annually by the first day of July and upon request of the chairperson of the senate higher education committee or the chairperson of the assembly higher education committee a report detailing the total vacancies filled, the total vacancies expected for the upcoming academic year, what vacancies each elected official is expected to have pursuant to the provisions of subdivision three of this section and a summary of the previous year's total student enrollment and participation in the program.

5. The scholarships authorized by this section shall be made available so long as funds are made available for such purposes.

6. Any individual receiving a scholarship pursuant to this section shall apply for all other available state, federal, or other educational grant aid at the time of enrollment. Any grant aid or financial assistance received shall be utilized to offset the cost of tuition and the "Summer Sea Term" to the maximum extent possible, except that nothing shall require that aid or assistance received which may be used towards costs other than that of tuition shall be applied toward the cost of tuition.

7. The state university of New York is hereby authorized to promulgate any rules and regulations necessary for the implementation of the provisions of this section.