CUNY tuition hike hurts working students
Special to Workers World
New York
Compared to private colleges in New York City
where tuition runs over $30,000 a year, a $300-a-year increase
for students in the City University of New York's six community
colleges may not sound like much. It will bring their tuition
to $2,800 a year. An $800-a-year increase for senior colleges
will raise their tuition to $4,000 a year.
However, since 60 percent of CUNY students come from
families that make less than $30,000 a year, every dollar
counts.
Many are single parents with two jobs. Most were born
outside the United States. Thousands of them are going to drop
out when their aid is cut off, when they can't raise the
tuition or pay the extra fare to get to classes.
Bill Crain, a teacher at City College, told a City Council
hearing: "You talk about fiscal realities and shortfalls. But
even during the Great Depression, CUNY remained tuition-free.
It somehow mustered the will to remain true to its mission when
CUNY was predominantly white. Muster the will today."
At the meeting where the Board of Trustees voted 13 to one
for the increase, 175 students and faculty chanted, "Shame,
shame, shame" as board members voted to deprive thousands of
students of a higher education.
Reprinted from the July 3, 2003, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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