The Town of North Hempstead and Nassau County will face off in state Appellate Court on Sept. 10 over a dispute over which municipality should pay a share of the tuition of residents attending the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan
A state Supreme Court judge in 2011 ruled that the town was not obligated to pay F.I.T tuition fees for baccalaureate and masters degree programs. The town did accept the county passing on charges for students enrolled in two-year programs at the school.
The town had sued the county after it had invoked charge-back provisions in state education law for the town to pay tuition charges the county had been covering for Nassau County residents attending the school.
Nassau County had taken the position that county residents should fully subsidize the F.I.T. graduate and four-year programs in the amount of $10,900 per student.
The cost to North Hempstead taxpayers, if the county won, would have been $1.17 million in 2010.
