The state is paying for a few thousand dollars over two years. That’s very different from paying the students’ debts in full.
If given the choice between working for a salary of $45,000 and getting the state to pay $3,000 a year towards their loans or working for $51,000, I’m reasonably sure most people would choose the latter. Few recent graduates will find themselves right in that $47,000-$50,000 range where earning over $50,000 could well leave them worse off than the sum of their current salary and NY State aid.
The state’s cost projections put the price tag at $40 million by the time 4 cohorts of college students are enrolled. Even assuming that estimate is wildly optimistic, and assuming a 150% cost overrun, this program’s cost will be a tad over 0.1% of the state budget for the 2016 fiscal year. Per resident, that’s less than the cost of a coffee from some NYC shops.