Erica Jenkins

Community Organizing

Position paper

CUNY tuition increase

Since I’ve started attending City Tech I was always surprised of how reasonable the tuition was, I know that each year the tuition goes a little. That’s one of the reason why I decided  to attend a CUNY college, even though I was  accepted  to other colleges outside the state; I knew I didn’t have to worry about paying for school and focus on school.  But now that’s going to change for me and everyone who attend CUNY colleges. On July, 2011 the state Legislature and Governor Andrew M. Cuomo enacted a law that allows the public universities to raise tuition by $300 a year for five years (Perez- Pena 2011).

With this increase many college student didn’t agree with the tuition increase, so they took action.  On November 21 ,2011 hundreds of students from Baruch College took to the street outside the building where the board met, banging drums and waving signs, and protesting that students could not afford an increase that will reach 31 percent over five years, many of them were arrested during the demonstration. Even though the board of trustees went ahead and increased the tuition. Those college students bought awareness to this unfair tuition hike, it shows how important this problem is to them and that they are willing to fight for what they feel is right.

The thing is those who support the tuition increase are not thinking about the student who attended CUNY schools, which is made up of low-income and minority students. It’s not fair for them to pay even more money to; “CUNY students have already made sacrifices to pay for college. Tuition increased by 15% in 2009 and many struggle financially to be able to stay in school” (Staff 2011). And the board thinks that those who received  financial aid like TAP will be fine with the tuition increased is wrong; it will hit them the hardest “TAP offers very inadequate support to the 34% of CUNY students who attend part time – many of whom are in dire financial need” ( Staff 2011).  I myself receive TAP and FASFA I don’t receive lot but it does make a difference that might change if TAP doesn’t find a way to find funding to cover the cost of the tuition increased.

With this tuition increase CUNY school are going to be harder for individual to keep attending CUNY schools. PSC First Vice President Steve London explains it perfectly “Expecting some of the nation’s poorest students to pay more and more will only reduce access to college and expand social inequality – the opposite of CUNY’s mission”( Tarleton 2011). The tuition increase is putting many people’s futures in jeopardy, it not fair for the CUNY system to fail on those who what to achieve something greater in their lives.

Reference list

Perez-pena, R. (2011, November 28). Amid Protests by Students and Others, CUNY Trustees Vote to Raise Tuition. Retrieved November 10, 2014.

Staff, Clarion. (2011, January ). Viewpoint: Is a Tuition Increase the Answer? Retrieved November 10, 2014, from http://www.psc-cuny.org/content/viewpoint-tuition-increase-answer

Tarleton, John. (2011, August ). State Passes 5-Year Plan: CUNY Tuition Set to Soar, Maintenance-of-Effort Pledge Falls Short. Retrieved November 10, 2014, from http://www.psc-cuny.org/clarion/august-2011/state-passes-5-year-plan-cuny-tuition-set-soar-maintenance-effort-pledge-falls-s