City College of New York (CCNY) charges me about $3,465 per semester to study here. The Excelsior scholarship covers everything but the $200 technology fee. The only way I can justify this since I don’t use any CUNY technology is to pay to use the school’s wifi. Even then, I always feel so iffy when I have to fork over that $200 that my scholarship doesn’t cover. But what about the kids that are not on scholarship? The ones that have to pay $3,465 because stingy FAFSA doesn’t want to help them out. Way back in my grandparents’ heyday, CUNY schools were free. Nowadays, they are the most affordable option in NYC, but the most affordable and affordable are not the same thing. CUNY schools should have free tuition so that actual New Yorkers can afford to go to college.
The entire purpose, the spirit, of the student activist 1969 at CUNY was to have open admission for all so that people of all backgrounds could have more opportunities to receive higher education. In the five demands, the protestors stated their desire for “the racial composition of the entering Freshman class [to] be racially reflective of the high school population” (Five Demands, 1). This was to create a more inclusive campus, since tuition was free and the cost of living was much lower outside of racism there weren’t as many barriers preventing people from attending CCNY. The student protestors’ demand led to the much more diverse CCNY campus that the students of today know and love. I have never seen a Dominican Students Association until now, I was happy enough with my Latinx Student Union in high school. Or a sorority with so many women of color, as opposed to having just having a token pee-oh-see. But the CCNY student body said no settling for mediocre tokenization. According to City College’s own data(Over Here), there are more Hispanic, Asian, and Black people enrolled as undergraduates than white people. That data was on a graph shown on page 11, the same graph referred to immigrants as aliens and it was kind of a jumpscare but let’s jump back onto the main point. Focusing on the positive, going from 97% white to turning white people into a minority on campus, is truly transformative. Tell that to a white student in 1969 and they would flip out.
1969 was truly revolutionary for CUNY, but it’s not like the wheel was created, the same theme of trying to open up college to everyone is still being fought for. Because of an economic crisis, a lot of pressure was placed on CUNY to stop being a little money vacuum that just hogged state funding, so they started charging students for admission (2). The whole point of fighting for Black and Puerto Rican students was so they could go to school. Saying “Yeah you can come here, just give us a bunch of money” is really icky. Truly a gut punch to all the changes made and the people that fought for them. “In fall 1976, amid the turmoil of a dire city fiscal crisis, the free-tuition policy was discontinued under pressure from the federal government, the state, and the financial community in the effort to rescue the city from bankruptcy” (2). All of these communities of greedy rich people came together to stop the working class and people of color from getting their education. Alternatively, they could’ve just increased taxes on the top whatever percent of the population. I know down here in my tax bracket, I can’t even imagine making so much money that I never worried about tuition but there are actually people out there who go to a certain college because they want to and not because it’s cheap and good enough. I’m lucky enough to qualify for the Excelsior scholarship and have a family that would share the burden of potential loans with me, but not everyone has that safety net.
While being one of the most affordable options for higher education, City College is still not affordable to all New Yorkers. I come from a comfortable middle-class family with a sister a year ahead of me in City College as well (Go Beavers!!!) and without the Excelsior scholarship, we would have had to make major lifestyle changes. Speaking of the Excelsior scholarship that I keep mentioning so many times here, it’s great but definitely not the best. Needing 30 credits a year translates to 5 classes in the Fall/Spring since they don’t pay for Summer/Winter classes. Taking 5 classes at once is definitely doable, I’m doing it right now. But I don’t have kids. I don’t pay bills. I don’t go home and do anything but my schoolwork.
I recently got a part-time job but my occupation is still a student. In finals week I’m telling my boss that my classes come first, not the Pet Store but not everyone has that luxury. The single parents, the kids that help out at home, the this, the that, there’s so many people out there that have jobs that are just as, if not more important to them than school. Because to them it might not be about maintaining their lifestyle but maintaining their life. This gets even worse when they have to pay for tuition, on top of their own bills. Free tuition would give nearly nine thousand dollars of wiggle room for people all over the state, even outside of NYC. A degree means that people can make much more money, different tax bracket types of money like saving up for retirement VS 401K type of stuff.
As of Fall 2023, City College charges their students $3,465 for tuition. My strict scholarship has me covered, for the most part. But what about people without scholarships? Better question, why do we even need scholarships??? Way back in the day CCNY was free, there was no tuition, no random fees that you don’t even know what they’re for. Absolutely free. As the school opened up, racially speaking, this allowed for people of all backgrounds to get their degree and have some economic mobility which was the whole purpose of the 1969 protest. Now, instead of banning non-white students, City College puts up a wall and demands absurd amounts of money to study here. It was truly one step forward and two steps back. While CCNY is definitely one of the most affordable colleges in New York it doesn’t make it affordable still. Like if Saks had a sale, does it mean you can suddenly shop there now? We need to revisit the ideas of the 1969 protest and demand free tuition, have a little New York pride, and want to see your people(New Yorkers) succeed. We shouldn’t live in a world where for some people going to college means they have to save every cent they come across. A degree means that we can make drastically positive changes in our lives and that opportunity should be available to everyone, not just people who were born into wealth or get lucky scholarships.
Work Cited
Unknown. “City Facts Fall 2018.” City College of New York, City College of New York, 5 Mar. 2019, www.ccny.cuny.edu/sites/default/files/institutionalresearch/upload/CityFactsFall2018.pdf.
Unknown. “The Five Demands.” CUNY Digital History Archive, May 1969, fivedemands.commons.gc.cuny.edu/.
Unknown. “Tuition and Fee Listing – Fall 2022 and Spring 2023.” The City College of New York, The City College of New York, 3 May 2023, www.ccny.cuny.edu/bursar/tuition-and-fee-listing-fall-2022-and-spring-2023.
Unknown. “WHEN TUITION AT CUNY WAS FREE, SORT OF.” CUNY Matters, 12 Oct. 2011, www1.cuny.edu/sites/matters/2011/10/12/when-tuition-at-cuny-was-free-sort-of/#:~:text=In%20fall%201976%2C%20amid%20the,rescue%20the%20city%20from%20bankruptcy.
