Article: Cooper Union considers charging tuition

Parents Forum
1

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Facing serious financial trouble in a weak economy, Cooper Union, the New York City college founded in 1859 to provide free education for the working class, may begin charging undergraduate tuition for the first time in more than a century, its president said Monday.

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<p>I don't have any first-hand knowledge of Cooper Union, but I think this is very sad.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/01/nyregion/cooper-union-may-charge-tuition-to-undergraduates.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/01/nyregion/cooper-union-may-charge-tuition-to-undergraduates.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

2

<p>Could it be competition with the new science campus rumored to be Stanford or Cornell?</p>

3

<p>Why on earth would you think that? It’s not going to open for at least 3 years and will probably be graduate students only-no undergrads.</p>

4

<p>Cooper got graduate schools.
I was actually thinking about post #2
“why didn’t I think of that?”
real estate is limited and always tangled with politics here. anything is possible.
I wrote in the other thread, the president should sell off his townhouse. That would make more than what they need for time being.</p>

5

<p>Cooper’s real estate holdings have been dropping in value since the recession, and they need to offset the expenditure of the recent remodeling. However, I believe they have many ways to make up for real estate losses than charging tuition.</p>

6

<p>There were talk recently about Cooper is giving hard time to this celebrated bookstore In the East Village which property Cooper owns. I thought Cooper was being the bad guy.
I guess the shop will tank as well. so sad.
I am sure famous alumni can give more if they want to complain about legacy being lost.
or
Whole thing is a scheme to get publicity and NYT is in it as well, you never know.</p>

7

<p>Higher education is a business, and for a business to keep its doors open it needs money. Doubt there is some other nefarious plot. Its a business decision. Sad, but a sign of the times. I believe Olin is planning to charge tuition now too, and Antioch, that went out of business a few years back, may be reopening its doors. They reopened this fall with 35 students. It is/was a great school. I hope it survives. <a href=“http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/07/antioch_college_alumni_backers.html[/url]”>Antioch College alumni, backers raise money to reopen the Yellow Springs, Ohio, liberal arts school - cleveland.com; <a href=“http://antiochcollege.org/news/archive/antioch_college_reopens.html[/url]”>http://antiochcollege.org/news/archive/antioch_college_reopens.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

8

<p>Antioch did start this fall with few full ride students.
[An</a> Old School Made New](<a href=“http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/tomorrows-college/english-major/antioch-college.html]An”>An Old School Made New)
I wish I had known!</p>

9

<p>It will be interesting to see how graduates of the new Antioch are treated in the work place since the college is not yet accredited (and I believe that’s a five year timeline).</p>

10

<p>I thought they maintained their telecommuting programs. Perhaps that will help with accreditation?</p>

11

<p>Olin College now gives half-tuition scholarships for new students. Students who entered with full-tuition scholarships keep them the whole time. Olin does offer need-based aid to cover the difference between half-tuition and the FAFSA. Olin hopes to return to full-tuition sometime in the future and the alumni are very invested in trying to make that sometime as soon as possible.</p>