Backed by Bernie Sanders, this governor's plan for free college could be a game-changer.

"Other countries have already done it. It's time this country catches up."

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New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo just announced a landmark plan to make college tuition-free for low- and middle-income families in New York.

The plan is called the Excelsior Scholarship, and it will take effect over the next three years, applying to any student attending a two- or four-year state or city university whose family earns less than $125,000 a year.

Considering that the median household income in New York state was $60,850 in 2015, this could radically change the game for many families trying to send their kids to college.

Then the economy changed. When the economy changed from a manufacturing economy to a high-tech economy, a HS degree wasn't enough. http://pic.twitter.com/O5lX1CzD5C

— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) January 3, 2017

"College is a mandatory step if you really want to be a success ... and this society should say we're going to pay for college because you need college to be successful," Cuomo said in his Jan. 3 announcement alongside Sen. Bernie Sanders, who made debt-free college a big part of his presidential campaign. "Other countries have already done it. It's time this country catches up."

Sanders is far from just a silent backer of the project. He took the stage to give a short speech expressing his support for Cuomo's plan, later tweeting, "If New York makes public colleges and universities tuition-free, mark my words, state after state will follow."

.@SenSanders: If we’re going to do a justice to low-income families, we must have the best educated workforce in the world. http://pic.twitter.com/41GmT0RFDy

— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) January 3, 2017

Cuomo's plan could be America's first big step toward what many schools across Europe already offer: free or nearly free college tuition for all residents.

Image via iStock.

Public colleges in Germany, Norway, Iceland, and Finland all offer free college tuition for students, no matter their household income. They even offer the same deal to international students, which is why some American students are opting to go abroad for their degrees.

Some details of the Excelsior Scholarship have yet to be fully ironed out, but it's not an impossible goal to set.

For example, it's still unclear where the money to pay for it will come from. Free doesn't mean free for everyone. The reason colleges in other countries are able to offer free tuition is because their citizens pay higher taxes. Countries like Germany also have lower enrollment percentages than the U.S. as a whole.

New York has the third-largest economy in the United States (on par with all of Canada), with over 1.3 million students attending public colleges. So the program could end up costing much more than the current proposal of $163 million.

Private universities have begun offering similar programs to low- and middle-income students, proving that a program like the one Cuomo is proposing for New York can work on a small scale.

Stanford University. Photo by Harshlight/Flickr.

In 2015, Stanford University announced tuition would be free for students from households earning $125,000 and under. In fact, all the Ivy League schools (along with other privately owned schools) offer tuition wavers for households earning $75,000 or less. Just as a state would draw from taxes, these schools draw from student tuition funds and other funding sources to make economic diversity on campus a reality.

Higher education should not only be available to the financially savvy or those lucky enough to be born into wealthy families. No one should have to go into severe debt to get the degree they need to get a job, contribute to the economy, and succeed. Cuomo's plan for one of the wealthiest states in the country has the potential to set a precedent to finally open those doors to any American who wants to walk through them.

You can show your support and learn more about the Excelsior Scholarship program here.

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