ALBANY — An error in a state office may be holding up financial aid for some SUNY students, but officials have a plan in place to make sure nobody has to pay more for their education.

Last week, SUNY colleges across the system got notices from the state Higher Education Services Corporation informing them that they had been overpaid for some students who attended college in the last three years. That meant the corporation, a state entity that handles the state Tuition Assistance Program for college students, lacked the proper funds to support students this year, leaving some students without enough money to cover their tuition.

TAP gives eligible students — residents of New York who attend a college in the state — up to $5,665 per year on a sliding scale. Many classifications of students are eligible for the program, but the issue specifically relates to independent students who have no children. An independent student is at least 24, a military service-member, or a foster or emancipated child under age 24, and the award calculations typically put them towards the lower end of award amounts, capped at $3,025 annually if they make $10,000 or less.

Across all three years, a total of 3,274 students saw 3,514 awards improperly calculated, totaling about $5 million in overpayments to campuses on their behalf. Details on specifically which campuses were impacted was not made available.

The HESC told financial aid offices on Sept. 6 that it had discovered the error, reduced student awards this year and demanded the extra money be paid back. On Sept. 7, SUNY presidents were told not to do anything about the issue.

On Sept. 8, SUNY Chancellor John B. King Jr. sent a letter to SUNY college presidents across the 64 campus system, describing the issue as a technical error in HESC’s data, and stated it was the administration’s priority to ensure no student experiences an interruption in their education or an increase in their bill as a result of it.

“SUNY will not let a single student be impacted by the recent technical issues at HESC,” he said in his letter.

He stressed that officials are investigating and following all aspects of the state’s fiscal and educational regulations, and asked campuses to take action to protect existing and graduated or former students

For existing students, SUNY campuses are directed to provide a campus-funded scholarship to make up the difference between the expected and actual TAP aid. They are to keep records on the students covered by the scholarship and the total financial impact of the program, and then provide bi-weekly updates to the SUNY System Administration budget office for SUNY to fully reimburse the campus. King stressed that no identifiable student information should be maintained, only enough to tie awards back to accounts.

For adjustments made to TAP grants for students who left the college by transfer, graduation or dropping out, a similar program should be established to ensure no former students are sent to collections.

The SUNY Chancellor also included a message he asked be shared with all SUNY students impacted by the error by their campus, making a personal pledge that no student will have their education imperiled by the sudden change in state aid.

“I have directed the presidents of each SUNY institution to ensure that your student bill will not be impacted due to the technical issue,” he said. “You can expect to see this adjustment to your student account as soon as possible.”

For students at private universities across New York, it is unclear how many were impacted by the TAP miscalculations or what is being done to pay the sudden gap in their bills, if anything.