In CUNY’s 2017-2018 Operating Budget Request and Four-Year Financial Plan, there is a proposed $250 tuition hike coming to CUNY senior colleges over the next four years.
The tuition hike is actually lower than the proposed $300 hike for senior colleges, and includes a $100 tuition hike for community colleges.
The initially proposed $300 tuition increase was enacted back in 2011 and was considered to be “modest and predictable,” going to “directly benefit students.”
The plan reports that “CUNY’s in-state tuition will continue to be well below the average for public universities in the country and, combined with New York’s Tuition Assistance Program (TAP), it will keep college affordable to all our residents.”
Konstantino Podias, a senior elementary education and psychology major at Queens College, said that the tuition hike seems unnecessary, despite reductions from the original $300 planned.
“I feel like it’s unnecessary unless there’s a good reason behind it, other than for the purpose of increasing professor salaries. Perhaps if there were an awesome commodity or other accommodations that students may get from it, the tuition hike would be justified and keep in mind that not all students are entitled to financial aid,” Podias said.
Krystal Latchana, also a senior elementary education major at QC, agreed with Podias, stating that the purpose of public institutions should be to find ways to save money for students.
“What they should be doing is finding ways for students to save money. The cost of travel and books alone is enough. They should stop with the unnecessary courses that you have to take in order to get a degree. And if we are going to be paying increasing amounts for tuition, we should be guaranteed jobs in our chosen fields,” Latchana said.
Muhammed T. Vali, a senior computer science major at QC, said that the problem with increasing CUNY’s tuition is that the state isn’t doing nearly enough to subsidize institutions.
“The state can contribute way more without large amounts of money by simply being more resourceful. Tuition hikes are a clear indicator that the state has been playing too much of a conservative role in helping fund CUNY,” Vali said.
“Though it most likely won’t be reversed, there’s a bigger and more alarming problem to worry about; we are at the peak of the economy and CUNY is having budget problems. What measures is the state taking to preserve CUNY in case we hit another recession?”
