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NYU Student Starts Petition to Combat Rising Tuition

Topics: Current Events

Nia Mirza is a future college student who should be happy, proud, and excited to be accepted into New York University’s (NYU) freshman class in the fall. Instead, she is reeling from the most recent tuition hike that will cost Mirza and her family $71,000 for just her first year. In exasperation, she started a petition on Change.org to pressure NYU to roll back the increase.


(Photo Credit: Glyn Lowe Photoworks./Flickr)

NYU makes no bones about the fact that they increase tuition every year by “a small percentage.” Some may disagree with NYU’s understanding of “small,” as the tuition was raised from $64,000 to $71,000. Mirza also makes some other good points.

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Timing Is Everything

Mirza points out that the timing of $7,000 hike was grossly unfair to students who had accepted early enrollment for the 2015-2016 school year. Early Decision students are those who enroll long before the usual deadline. They are given an early offer of admission, and if they accept, they are bound to attend that college. In other words, they cannot apply to other colleges. It’s a commitment.

According to Mirza’s petition, NYU waited until the Early Decision students had been accepted, agreed to enroll in NYU, and paid their enrollment fees. Then NYU implemented the tuition hike of $7,000 for that incoming class.

Financial Hardship

A college education is expensive, and even upper-middle class families struggle to pay tuition and fees. Mirza’s point is that both the timing and amount of NYU’s tuition hike do more than just add insult to injury. The extra $7,000 has put some incoming freshmen between a rock and a hard place. They agreed to attend NYU at $64,000 for the first year and withdrew applications from other colleges due to the binding nature of the Early Decision. Now that they must pay $71,000, Mirza says some students are considering waiting one year to start college because they no longer can afford to do so.

Based upon this story, they may raise enough money to cover the additional $7,000 and still fall short when NYU implements another “small” increase.

Return On Investment (ROI)

PayScale’s College ROI Report gives the 20-year return on investment for tuition at colleges and universities in the US. Payscale estimates four years at NYU cost about $239,300 for the academic year 2012-2013, without financial aid, and puts NYU’s 20-year ROI at $433,700. That means that while NYU is one of the most expensive school in the nation, it comes in at No. 174 for ROI. For contrast, Harvey Mudd College boasts a 20-year ROI of $985,300, with a four-year cost of $237,700, which is about the same as NYU’s.

Add a cost increase to NYU’s sky-high tuition, and you have a financially impossible situation for the least wealthy students. The bottom line, according to Mirza, is that those who can get into college should not be unable to go because of exorbitant and rising tuition costs.

“Good education is a right to all regardless of financial strength,” she writes, in her petition. “We are against the amount of debt that students are forced to incur while studying at NYU. We are against the over-pressurization of parents. We support education for all and we wish to graduate debt-free like students from many other top-tier colleges. We demand a drop in NYU’s tuition fee.”

Tell Us What You Think

Are you in debt from college tuition costs? We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or join the discussion on Twitter.


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Maggie
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Maggie

Government money (student loans) should be given to colleges that keep rising cost within a margin of inflation. Since that money does not go to students but goes into university coffers it could be a good incentive to keep prices down.
And look at the shameless salaries upper admin and sports coaches give to themselves! Paid for by you and me!

James
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James

College cost rise twice the rate of inflation because government is involved. Take completely away the subsidized loans and costs will fall. Not everyone should go to college and too many who are take degree programs that provide little benefit to society or to their own financial well being. The more money you pull forward from the future for educational expenses the more the schools will grow to consume it. The more money you make available for these Universities now… Read more »

Dave
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Dave

College cost are OUT OF CONTROL!!!- My 4 kids have $ 325,000 in sudent loans- The Government needs to increase the amounts they will loan out- it is now far to low- The private lenders rates are far to high- The prime rate has been at 3.25 % for the past 5 years- Why do student loan rartes have to be 7.99- 12.99 % for the private loans- ? This is the next bubble with over 1.2 trillion in total… Read more »

Robert
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Robert

Agreed, _good_ education is a right to all. But most _good_ post-secondary accredited institutions are affordable. If potential students weren’t charmed by school reputations, athletic programs, and luxury dormitories, none of which ensures an education, the choice to attend college would be more straightforward. I’d wager a vast proportion of community colleges do a _good_ job preparing students for the careers they want. If you can’t afford it, don’t buy it. Just because you can stick a key in a… Read more »

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