You are merely making a speculation for the future. You should not advertise this information without the backing of real information.
Current senior, I want to clarify a few things since there seems to be some misinformation here.
It was announced yesterday that Cooper would begin charging per credit for any credits past 19.5. The cost per credit is $1200, however since all students are currently granted half scholarships, the cost per credit would be $600. Upon hearing this news the student community was outraged. While you are never required to take beyond 19.5 credits, doing so is pretty embedded in the Cooper culture (whether it be for scheduling, accelerating a masters degree, or intellectual curiosity). Given the student backlash, this policy would hopefully be subject to change, though the current administration tends not to be too responsive to student demands.
Additionally, upon accepting I would assume that you would be grandfathered into the half tuition scholarship, similar to how current upperclassmen are grandfathered into full tuition scholarships should the tuition policy change down the road.
There is indeed a large amount of tension between the students/faculty/alumni and administration regarding the financial history and current direction of the school. Probably the most unbiased source I can provide on the matter is (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooper_Union_financial_crisis_and_tuition_protests), though the I would definitely check out http://cusos.org/ as well.
Additionally, as seen in recent news the board of trustees is currently under investigation by the Attorney General, so the future of the school is a bit up in the air.
As a mom of a current art applicant, who is dead set on attending if he is accepted, I’m curious about how these issues are affecting classes, student learning, student life, quality and commitment of the instructors etc. My ds has been offered scholarships to other top art schools that are higher than CU 50%, so it is going to be a challenging choice for him. I have a hard time with cooper, even with 50% tuition when it is more expensive than Pratt or MICA (due to his merit aid) - schools with meal facilities, dorms beyond freshman year, fitness centers, health services etc.
They have a significant impact on class sizes, academic standards, and morale of both students and faculty.
As predicted by @seesharper and with the help of the active current student body the policy for overloading or adding extra credits has been reversed. Attached is the official statement from the Vice President for Finance and Administration regarding the matter:
"The Board of Trustees approved the 2015-2016 tuition and fees at its March 11th meeting and, while an official announcement had not yet been issued, yesterday the Cooper Union community reacted negatively to a planned implementation of an overload charge for credits taken above 19.5 credits per semester. As was planned, this charge would have applied to the current freshmen class and future classes. I do not want to restate much of what was said yesterday in emails and on social media, but I do want to provide some additional clarity as to how such an overload charge was proposed.
Institutionally we are still maturing in our policies and practices surrounding the charging of tuition. When I arrived here in September, I noted that we did not have a comprehensive schedule of tuition and fees, including specific policies on charging students who were not full time and students taking overloads. As I sought to implement such a tuition and fees schedule, I consulted with others and received feedback about many areas, including from Dean Dahlberg about increasing the limit from 18.5 to 19.5 credits. I saw this tuition and fees schedule as “normal” for higher education institutions and thus thought implementing it would be a normal course of operations. Having seen yesterday’s reaction to the overload charge, I can say that I am still learning about the culture of Cooper Union. I value our unique character and I wish to honor it.
Accordingly, after consultation with President Bharucha and the Board of Trustees, we will not implement an overload charge for 2015-2016. This is certainly not the time to implement such a policy, and it may never be the right to time to do so. I cannot promise that this will never be implemented, since such policies can help refine the balance between actual course enrollments and the resources needed to accommodate them. But if such a policy change is considered in the future, I will ensure all affected constituencies are included in that conversation. I thank you for your patience in my education in The Cooper Union way.
Sincerely,
Bill Mea
Vice President for Finance & Administration "