Seniors at Cooper Union college in New York City received quite the surprise when returning to classes on Tuesday. The once famously tuition-free school is giving roughly 200 students graduating with the class of 2025 their final year of classes free of charge, in a return to the 165-year-old East Village institution's roots.
According to the New York Post, the school's former president Laura Sparks said that the grand gesture was made possible thanks to about $6 million in grants pledged by three anonymous alumni. And there's enough money to do the same for the next three graduating classes, while the school gets back on track to hopefully once again offer free tuition to all students.
"Thanks to the generosity of three extraordinary alumni donors, we are removing a major financial burden for our graduating classes and reaffirming the ideals that have been foundational to this institution since Peter Cooper opened its doors in 1859," Sparks said in a statement on Tuesday.
Cooper Union had remained tuition free until the fall of 2014, when it began charging $19,500 to attend the school after falling into debt due to a $175 million investment into an academic building. The financial blunder resulted in protests, a lawsuit, and even an investigation by the attorney general of New York. Now, a decade later, that cost has risen to $44,550, per the university's website.
In addition to the free tuition for seniors, the school is hoping to resume the tuition-free model for the start of the 2028-29 academic year. Already, tuition has been subsidized for most students, with about 900 out of 1,000 students receiving a minimum of half-tuition scholarships of $22,275.
However, while tuition may be free, it still is not exactly cheap for students living on campus. In New York City, room and board costs are estimated at approximately $25,000 per year alone.
