he was joined by, oh, a guy you might know, senator bernie sand efforts, the free tuition champion. cuomo says college degrees are important for the u.s. to compete globally. they're incredibly important for american workers and new yorkers. he called on the rest of the country to follow his lead. >> college is a mandatory step, if you really want to be a success. and the way this society said we're going to pay for high school, because you need high school, this society should say we're going to pay for college because you need college to be successful. >> all right. this would cover students whose families make $125,000 a year or less. they would be able to attend two or four-year state schools in new york. they would still be on the hook for additional fees. you know, they got to pay for books, room and board. a recent study finds nearly two-thirds of new york college