POTSDAM – SUNY Potsdam President John Schwaller is looking forward to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s challenge grant program for the state university and the prospect of a $20 million grant for the college.

In his State of the State Address yesterday, Cuomo called the State University of New York the "great equalizer" for New Yorkers, allowing people from working families to access quality higher education.

He also announced that he would propose an expansion of the NYSUNY 2020 Challenge Grant Act from the four research centers – at Albany, Buffalo, Binghamton and Stony Brook -- to now include all of SUNY's 64 campuses, offering the colleges the chance to compete for three $20 million grants.

"We at SUNY Potsdam applaud Governor Cuomo's visionary expansion of the NYSUNY 2020 Challenge Grant Act to SUNY's other 60 campuses,” Schwaller said,

“This unique opportunity will allow all of the State University's individual institutions to show their strengths, as we compete for the three $20 million grants," he said.

"As we approach our bicentennial, SUNY Potsdam will continue to build on that long history of providing a handcrafted education for our students, while also working to revitalize the North Country economy."