A Cayuga Community College nursing student says an expansion of New York's SUNY Reconnect program made it possible for her to continue pursuing a new career while raising five children.
Jacqueline Scholz, a second-year nursing student and president of the Nursing Club on Cayuga's Auburn campus, became eligible for the tuition assistance program after the state expanded it to include people who already hold college degrees and want to earn another degree in nursing.
SUNY Reconnect, launched in 2025, allows eligible New York residents ages 25 to 55 to pursue certain career-focused associate degrees at no cost. The program covers remaining tuition, fees, books and supplies after other financial aid is applied, and students may attend part time or full time.
Covered fields include health care, education and advanced manufacturing. Scholz said an academic adviser told her about the program when she was unsure whether she could afford to continue at Cayuga.
“As a single mother with five kids, it's very hard to carve out time for college and guarantee that I could pay tuition,” Scholz said in a college news release. “The peace of mind it offers is everything.”
Scholz previously earned associate degrees in business administration and liberal arts and science from Cayuga, along with a bachelor's degree from Le Moyne College. After working in advertising and marketing, she earned a licensed practical nursing credential through Cayuga-Onondaga BOCES.
She returned to Cayuga in 2025 to pursue an associate in applied science degree in nursing. She was not initially eligible for SUNY Reconnect because of her previous college degrees, but the later expansion covering second degrees in nursing changed that.
Scholz credited her classmates, instructors and academic coach Brenda Forrest with helping her progress through the program. She said she is particularly interested in eventually working in a medical-surgical unit at an area hospital, though she remains open to other nursing roles.
Her interest in health care dates to her first job as a babysitter, when she said she saved a child's life. Scholz said she now hopes to turn that interest into a profession while setting an example for her children, four of whom are also in college.
Scholz still has work remaining before graduation, but said the Reconnect assistance gives her confidence that she can complete the nursing program and pursue a job caring for patients.
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