Cooper will be charging 2000 dollars per credit taken above 19.5 credits. On top of half tuition, this makes the costs almost the same as any other school with merit aid. Just a heads up.
Why would you pay 20 grand plus money for credits for no campus, no meal-plan cafeteria, no dorms after first year, and a dysfunctional administration universally hated by its students for a school that is on a crash course with the NY attorney general’s office?
where are you getting these info…? are you a current student?
Yes. I am. The entire student body is up in arms at the moment over this proposal. It would be against my conscience to not share this info with you guys, as it will probably otherwise become public knowledge after the acceptance decision deadline, thus locking you into a policy that you did not know existed upon application.
Below is the text of the petition posted on the Class of 2018 facebook page that will be given to the president and board of trustees, and will be signed monday. In case my status as a student isn’t clear:
Facebook Post:
The following is the petition as it will appear tomorrow. For those still unaware, there will be a petition in 502 at 12 oclock - sign it if you agree with it. Then, come to ROSE - sign the below petition there if you agree with it. Then attend March Madness and support our wonderful faculty.
To the Cooper Union Board of Trustees,
We, the students of the Cooper Union, believe that the administration has systematically undermined what makes Cooper Union great. Below we enumerate the most plainly malicious actions taken by the current administration at the behest of the board of trustees.
The introduction of an ‘overload fee’ for students registered for more than nineteen and one half credits.
The added cost of summer courses, hindering the advancement of the students’ educations.
The removal of the historic full tuition scholarship that made Cooper Union unique.
With every action taken by the administration, the students have pushed back: yet obviously not with the numbers, unity, or volume needed to convince the administration that it is acting to the detriment of our university. The sheer inaneness of charging students to try their best academically, capping them a mere half credit from their requirements, has no reasonable justification, economic or otherwise.
It is the great dream of the student to better oneself in higher education: socially, morally, and intellectually. The fact of the matter is that the administration is denying the students of Cooper Union the ability to grow, and actively degrading the history and character of the institution. This cannot stand. Students have no impetus to strive for excellence when it can only be attained through increasing costs. We have adapted enough. We are not so ignorant to believe that a petition alone can change the course of the university when so many greater actions have failed, but let this be clear to the administration, and to the board: the students stand in stark opposition to the recent credit overload decision.
Attached are the names and signatures of those in accord with this petition. They are those
who refuse to be forced into a level of education below the level for which they chose to attend The Cooper Union,
who, with an increase in cost, are unwilling to pay for registering past nineteen and one half credits,
who refuse to tolerate the administration making decisions in absence of input from the community,
and who are committed to bettering their university.
This petition demands the reversal of the recent decisions.
THE STUDENTS OF COOPER UNION
@einsteinbaby Is this 2000 per credit above 19.5 credits per YEAR or per SEMESTER?
A lot of schools, NYU as a NYC example, charge for credits over a certain number. Using NYU as an example because I know some kids weighting NYU vs CU as posible choices, CU still wins out in terms of less cost. CU also meets full need if there is some after the tution credit is given for half the tuiton worth. So for many kids, CU is the by far the less costly option compared to other choices. It is a great shame however, that this esteemed institution, CU, could not continue to support the no tuition legacy. A failure on part of the fund raisers and alums in getting the money necessary to continue the policy. But then look at what NYU’s COA is these days. Not to mention cost of NYU campus housing options. Obscenely expensive. Half tuition is a great deal for many I know who are hoping for a CU admit, better than anything else they are likely to get.
@cptofthehouse @einsteinbaby I’m just confused bc if this is by semester then it shouldn’t cost the student anything extra since the normal amount of credits is 15-19. On the other hand, if its per year then students would be paying double what theyre paying now?
Some kids like to load up on credits. I remember talking to two techies who were smacking their lips in glee in that CMU where they were attending does not charge for extra credits. You get permission to take those extra courses and can fit them in your schedule, you pay the fixed semester charges and not a dime more. They were taking 25 credits per SEMESTER, My one son took 28 credits some semesters–his school ordinary charges over a certain number of credits but due to the fact that his program (MT) frequently goes over, he got an override for the excess costs. But yes, the normal number of credits per term is 15-18 at most schools using the standard credit count. You often have to get permission to even take more credits. You need usually 120 credits on that scale to graduate which means you taking 15 credits each term with no extras from anywhere will just get yo what you need in credit count over 4 years, 8 semester.
So it’s those kids who want or need to take more credits in a term that are affected at CU. Say, you have to drop a big fat heavy credit course so you are behind in credits or left courses too long for some reason and need to take 22 or whatever number to graduate in a term? At CU, you now have to pay for anyting over 19.5 in a semester. Even if you only took 12 credits (min full time load) first semester of that year. At what CU has defined as their per credit charge, it can be a hefty charge to have to take 22 credits, for example, in one semester.
So yes, it’s by semester, and only affects those kids who for some reason want or need to take more credits tahan the normal number with 19.5 being the max without a surcharge. How many students this affects, who knows?
My brother’s close friend has a son at CU, and she feels it’s a great deal at half tuition compared to the other choices he had. She’s a financial analyst and has researched the CU situation, and she doesn’t see how it will even be able to stay at that rate and keep tuition cost down. The endowment is just not there, and being in Manhattan is so expensive. Look at NYU’s costs now. She and her son felt that NYU Poly was no where as good of a deal and did not have the panache he is getting at CU, and he did get merit money that made that option close in cost to CU’s.
@cptofthehouse Do you think cu will at least be able to continue the half tuition scholarships perpetually?
No. I don’t, given what I ‘ve been told, but I’m not a specialist in this sort of thing and am just going by others’ who are watching this carefully and so qualified, are saying. I personally know nothing first hand, so take anything I say as pure opinion. I think that this school is going to have to rely heavily on its 3 R’s, reputation, rankings, recognition to be a draw along with a generous financial aid policy and merit to continue to attract the top candidates. Also someone who is proactive in keeping housing options easily available for those who need them to go there.
Some one close to us is considering CU, and the lustre and the lower cost as well as the Manhattan locale are the things that are making CU have the upper hand here. NYU is figuring heavily in the equation. Kid applied to Columbia and MIT as well, but was not accepted, or those would have been first choices (ED denial at Columbia). Other schools in the mix, some costing less, but not NYC locale. But if CU were full priced and comparable to some of the choices, with its lack of campus and housing, it would have likely been off the table.
The students should be working hard to get that endowment up,or their school is endangered, IMO, in terms of quality and attracting the best students. The protests are not helping its image. It needs to get the alumni to be supporting the school more or it’ll become just another pricey NYC school. The New College group is probably licking its lips.
@margiela15 Per semester. Also, I know of almost NOBODY who is talking 19.5 or less credits. A normal workload at another college is considered taking it easy at CU. Most kids are taking 21+ credits per semester.
@cptofthehouse Cooper’s board has been talking about discontinuing their policy of completely meeting all need based aid. The alumni have already raised millions and provided a fiscal plan to continue operations without tuition, but the board refused.
This is a school that has luster but upon close examination is becoming very pricey, bloated, and backwards. It would be against my conscience to not tell you all this, given that it will probably be hidden from you until after matriculation.
@margiela15 Full tutition will probably be charged in 1 or 2 years, with no grandfathering in for years who came in with full or half scholarships.
What school are you in einsteinbaby? Art?
Engineering. However, I’m friends with people from all majors. This policy will apply to all three schools, FYI.
It’s hitting the news as well. This is a VERY serious change that will change the school significantly, and not for the better:http://gothamist.com/2015/03/31/cooper_union_extra_credit.php
-Repeat Post-
Sorry about the repeat post. The school has been making an effort to block access to sites such as College Confidential from their network so we can’t tell you guys about this. Please heed this warning VERY carefully.
As you can see, the administration is very hostile towards the students. It’s a very serious problem.
The model doesn’t work. I don’ t get why students don’t understand this. Looking at cost increases of all the other colleges, you don’t see why CU is having trouble? Why they need tuition.? I don’t think there was any gross mismanagement of money for this to have happened. It was inevitable. Look at Webb Institute, now on the watch list and ready to go under.
The school HAS to come up with more MONEY. If students don’t like the solutions, then they had better come up with some ideas. Many schools do charge per credit. 135 credits needed for graduation over 8 terms, and 19 as the cut off sounds reasonable to me. And of course you have to pay for summer school. You all think this is going to work as freebies? Where do you think the money source is? The free rides are over.
@cptofthehouse You are right it wasn’t a “gross mismanagement” of the money. After all you can only call it mismanagement if they even bothered to manage the money.
A simple search returns with a flood of articles on the mismanagement of cooper union…At the time of severe financial crisis, when neither Cooper Union nor the economy had recovered, the admin managed to spend 50K on a guest speaker 350K on Jamshed Barucha’s inauguration, and “spending about $1.5 million on consultants for supporting President Bharucha’s program of “reinvention” for Cooper Union”. With all these financial issues, Mr. Barucha is being given a salary package worth about the salary package of the president of Harvard. For students who have family incomes sub 40K, this is reckless extravagance. That 350K they spent on the inauguration party could have ensured the future of several intelligent and bright students. I am disappointed that you think that it is the “students who dont understand this.”
Until recently, I felt quite like you but when I got to know the true scenario of Cooper…as I dug deeper after my recent acceptance into cooper - I was shocked to see such critical flaws in a school I had dreamt about since childhood.
I agree to your statement about freebies but I have heard that certain degrees(esp. engineering) require 19.5 credit per semester for graduation. This puts students in a disadvantaged situation as students should have the option to atleast take a couple of courses apart from the core requirements without being charged (just like in other colleges in schools)
@ShellP is SPOT ON.
This school was my dream school as well, but now it has some serious flaws that are making me reconsider. Many kids are considering transferring out because its both too expensive and they can’t be assured that the school will still exist when they should be graduating.
I encourage all reading to THINK VERY CAREFULLY about Cooper. Don’t just brush it off and say “its not that big of a problem”. It will only get worse from here. Even if you can handle the state of affairs coming in September 2015, who knows if you will be able to do the same the year after? The level of volatility and unpredictability at Cooper is extreme, and I would advise careful evaluation of the TRUE merits of the school
I should reiterate that being a student at Cooper entails that you will at least once or twice be taking over 19.5 credits per semester. It’s not possible to graduate without overloading at least once. It’s engrained in the culture of the institution and how class selection works.