Student protesters gather in the streets around Baruch College where the school was shut down for several hours for the afternoon when the board votes on an appeal of a recent tuition hike. Protesters took over the streets and the neighborhood for some time.
CUNY students protest after, the $300 tuition hike approved Monday means a hard blow and its about making ends meet for many students.
Aunil Seoparson said he chose CUNY for two reasons. “I came here at first because it was cheap,” the 22-year-old from Corona, Queens said.
The second reason, Seoparson said, was that he hoped to pave the way to college for his younger sister and especially his brother, a high schooler who dreams of one day going to medical school.
“We have to plan our college expenses as a family," he said. “I don’t know if that’s gonna happen now.”
Seoparson, who works as a freelance computer programmer to make ends meet, said even before the hike he was not happy with the quality of his education.
“I just want to get out of here as soon as possible,” he said. “Their solution is to accept more students and raise tuition. As it is we have 300 students in some classrooms. You can’t learn like that. It’s too crowded.”
Paola Martinez, 23, a sophomore political science from Harlem, said she already works two jobs to pay for college, rent and child care for her year-old son, and the tuition hike really hurts.
“I can’t take any more loans,” Martinez said. “I owe too much money as it is."
Martinez said her semester tuition will climb from $2,500 to about $2,850 per semester. But she doesn’t qualify for financial aid because she and her husband’s household income is $35,000.
“I feel like they [the board of trustees] don’t care if I graduate or not,” she said. “I feel like they are discriminating against minority students. We are the ones who come here.”
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