Cooper Union Mulls Tuition Increase (from $0)

This post could easily have been posted in the “That’s Unbelievable” Blog, but it is also relevant to the issue of access, so I posted it here.

Cooper Union has not charged students tuition since 1902.  (How did I miss that key point when I was looking at which undergraduate engineering school to attend?  Ah, but I digress…)  In fact, every student who is admitted is provided with a full scholarship which, as of 2010, was valued at approximately $140,000 according to Ask.com’s wiki on the school.  The school has a substantial endowment (of approximately $600 million as of 2009) that includes ownership of the land beneath the Chrysler Building.  Real estate property tax on the Chrysler building is paid to Cooper Union rather than the State of New York.  In 2006, the leaseholder of the Chrysler Building signed a 150 year lease obligating it to pay rent of approximately $32.5 million by 2018, escalating to $50 million per year by 2038.  And in 2009, when the world’s financial markets were imploding, the Wall Street Journal reported that Cooper Union’s endowment was actually holding steady or gaining value.  That same year, the school finished a $150 million dollar, LEED rated (that means that it is energy efficient) classroom, lab, and studio facility at 41 Cooper Square (see photos).

On Halloween 2011, the façade of success started to crack.  It turns out that last year’s operating budget deficit was about $16.5 million out of a $60 million total budget.  That is approximately 27%, which is unsustainable, to say the least.  The university’s president, who has only been in his position for about four months, faced with the unpleasant task of meeting with faculty and students to explain the school’s dire financial status.  He even discussed the “T” word:  tuition!  He went on to explain that the college has already disposed of as many assets as it can to cover previous budget shortfalls.  Selling the land underneath the Chrysler Building would cost the school nearly a half-billion dollars in lost revenue over the life of the current lease, so that does not make sense.  So, the only viable options appear to be to find other effective fundraising mechanisms or to start charging tuition for the first time in more than a century.

It seems to me that a Cooper Union education is highly valuable.  While I agree with the concept that all students, regardless of wealth, should have access to the very best education, I am strongly inclined to believe that people value commodities based on what they pay for them.  $60 million per year is a lot of money to spend on a school with 1,000 students.  In fact, quick calculations show that the school is spending approximately $60,000 per year per student to provide them with an excellent education.  Obviously, these funds are not going directly to individual students, but they are costs directly related to the education of those individuals so I’m simplifying the situation here.

My question is this:  Should we be concerned that a free, top-notch college may begin charging even minimal tuition or is it simply time that Cooper Union faced the fact that an organization can run in deficit for only so long before it has to make radical changes in its financial model?  I certainly do not envy their new president.

Rewarding the Wrong Types of Behavior?

"We're rewarding the wrong types of behavior, [Eloy] Oakley said (Fain, 2011)."


Eloy Oakley's comment, as president of Long Beach City College, is in response to a new initiative in the state of California to move enrollment and student retention in Higher Education - and specifically in Community Colleges - to a more performance-based model.

The state of California is well known for it emphasis on access as the first and foremost priority in Higher Education. Last year a bill was passed which required the California educational system to create a "Task Force on Student Success (Fain, 2011)." In their report this year, the Task Force found that one of the key loads on California's system was the emphasis on access irregardless of student performance. Their recommendation? Give students who demonstrate academic success based on completion and other "success metrics" priority in enrollment, advising and other services. (Fain, 2011)

In Student Affairs, one of the causes most commonly championed is increasing access to education. The rationale, which one of the members of California's Task Force - David Rattray - calls "the ideal" is that this is America and the more open-access we provide to education the greater Higher Education embodies and serves as the vehicle for the American Dream. "In an ideal world, community colleges would grant equal opportunities to all students regardless of their academic preparation...In the real world it's not working (Fain quoting Rattray, 2011)"

President Obama, in his recent speech to the Auraria Campus student body and faculty, was proud of the fact that - by executive order - they have eliminated subsidized student loans. When I asked my students what their thoughts were about this, they had no idea what the ramifications of this would be for them. While it does eliminate federal subsidies which are paid to private sector financial institutions - a popularist move with the electorate in the run-up to an election year (given the wildfire growth of Occupy Movement) - the subsidies paid to banks served a function for students who receive these loans: interest does not start to accrue until six months after they are out of school. Without subsidized student loans, the end-cost of an education goes up however it does grant the Fed more control over the dispositioning of such loans (ie - forgiveness) but this comes at a cost. There is not such thing as a free lunch and someone will have to pay for student loan bailouts. The additional problem which arises in conversations about this is the matter of accountability. What behaviors are we rewarding by doing this?

I Saw Obama and Heard the Annoucement!!

Yes, this was my view of President Obama on Wednesday morning as he made his announcement about new changes on student borrowing and loans. (Side note- I was 50 feet from him- it was AWESOME!) The announcement was also featured in Inside Higher Ed and The Chronicle. His speech was very down to earth and easy for a college student to understand that the government is trying something to help them reduce their student loan debt and if potentially their loan payments are lower, they are able to do some thing to jump start the economy like buying a house or having money to spend on other things. 

In reading some comments on each of the articles, people are assuming that these changes to lending to students will get them jobs. Obama said nothing about that today. He did talk about his frustration with congress not passing the job bill. What I took from the his speech today was these changes will potentially free up some money made by college graduates to use towards spending in the economy. More spending will boost the economy and lead potentially to getting out of our recession. He did not say this would solve it but it is one way it might help both college graduates and the economy. Does not sound half bad to me....

The other point that no article has seemed to touch on that I have read is another part of the plan called "Know Before You Owe." This is a one page handout explaining financial aid options to beginning college students. I'll be curious to see what this looks like and how informative it really is, however, I am very excited at the idea especially because I was just in a conversation about who's responsibility it is to educate students about borrowing. But if it's anything like the tuition calculators mandated to college and universities, it might confuse people more. 

I don't know how this plan is going to work and if we as a nation can financially afford it. And it makes me a little leery of things going on in Washington when the president is circumventing Congress and making Executive decisions. And like I said to my students as they were imaging how these changes will effect them, "we need to know more and know more about specifically who it will impact." Obama used the number 1 million students could see changes to their borrowing. 1 million students is not a lot in this country. 

However, while we're waiting for answers, I think the thing I loved best about today was and is the reason I am in higher education. Of my 14 students, 10 went to the speech today and were excited and passionate about change in this country. They are getting the idea they are civicly (like all of us) responsible to help our government in this country (Obama asked us to tweet our congressmen to share our opinions- got a huge laugh and cheer from a room full of almost 4,000 college students) . And on the way back to our office after the speech they just asked questions, and made statements, and did some true critical thinking about what they had just heard from the President and how it might affect them. Any time I get moments like this I feel privileged and lucky.  I did some asking of questions too and I loved watching their minds turn and turn.

So yes, I saw the President today make a good speech and announcement, and there is more to know about these new things, but more importantly I got to share it with my students. I am a lucky professional. 

Undocumented students in higher education: various perspectives

The topic of undocumented students in higher education and the attempt to provide in state tuition for these students create an intense debate subject to opposing views within the ideological, political and economic spectrum.

Republican candidates have blatantly opposed undocumented immigration in the U.S. There have been some initiatives at the federal level to include in-state tuition for undocumented students in a comprehensive immigration reform. However, those initiatives have not materialized because so much emotion and fear have colored the debates.

Nevertheless, there has been some success at the state level and since 2001 there are 12 states that allow undocumented students to pay in-state tuition: California & Texas in 2001, New York and Utah in 2002, Washington, Oklahoma, Illinois and Kansas in 2003 & 2004, New Mexico and Nebraska in 2005-2006, Wisconsin in 2009, Maryland and Connecticut in 2011 (Wisconsin revoked the law in 2011).

One of the most recent successes for undocumented students has been the passage of the California Dream Act, under which undocumented students admitted in any public college or university are eligible for Cal-Grant assistance.

The experience of undocumented students already attending higher learning institutions varies considerably. However, they all have a common concern: an uncertain future, wondering if anyone will hire them when they graduate.

Let us assume that the majority of undocumented students we allude to are Latino students. Such an assumption will be helpful because we now will be able to look at national data in order to contextualize and elucidate the importance of this population for the United States.

According to the 2010 census, the Latino population accounted for more than half of the nation’s growth in the past decade. Currently there are 50.5 million Latinos living in the U.S., making up 16.3% of the total population. Projections indicate that this percentage will increase by 2050 and will represent 25 % of the total population of the country. Geographically, most Latinos continue to live in nine states Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, New Mexico, New Jersey, New York and Texas. But neighborhoods of Latinos in other states have been increasing.

As of March 2010, more than 11.2 million undocumented immigrants were reported living in the United States. These numbers inevitably speak of the reality of undocumented immigrants. They contribute to the nation’s economy as workers, taxpayers, and consumers.

In the current economic slowdown, political and economic leaders must consider the aforementioned data to provide the necessary avenues not only to pass legislation creating a path to legalization and permanent resident status for undocumented students, but also to realize that by doing so they will boost the economic development and success of the nation.

Colleges and universities must provide support to all college students regardless of their students’ immigration status. We must strive to promote inclusion for all students in our communities and our campuses. We must also strive to build inclusive campus climate. And we must advocate for underrepresented and marginalized students.

A healthy society’s obligation is to afford opportunities for all to attain the highest degree of education relevant to their interests and needs. Building a highly educated workforce is essential for the long-term sustainable development of the nation. Undocumented students deserve equal opportunities to access the institutions of higher education, and thus contribute to the socioeconomic development of our communities, and our society.

Financial Aid Discrimination

Last night, I gave a presentation in a Sociology class. The professor invites me to present on the services that my office provides to the campus, as well as current terminology. The students, as usual, had some great questions, including those about the laws surrounding and effects of reparative therapy and legislation regarding bullying. For the most part, the class went really well. But there was one student who was pretty upset that I was there, and confronting some of the teachings of her religion. She was very opposed to what I was teaching, which for me, just reinforced the reason that we have a GLBT office on campus. I don’t doubt her faith. What I have an issue with is questioning our existence on campus.

As I often explain to people who ask, my job is to level the educational playing field for the LGBT students here on campus, giving them an equal opportunity to access their education. A recent article in the New York Times just highlighted one of the many reasons that LGBT centers are still necessary on campus. The article highlighted stories of two students who had difficulties in filling out the FAFSA, and not just because the form is confusing.

The first student was raised by a lesbian couple. However, the FAFSA form only includes a space for a male parent and a female parent. To further complicate the matter, her mothers had separated, and were in relationships with other women. In cases such as these, what is a student to do? There are no instructions on the FAFSA form that would indicate how to handle this situation. Through no fault of her own, this student is dealing with a discriminatory process, as FAFSA relies on the federally-mandated Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), that defines marriage as being between one man and one woman. Because this student cannot fully define her family situation on this form, the amount of financial aid that she receives may be affected.

The other student that the article interviewed faced a different problem. After coming out to his parents, they threw him out of the house, and cut off any kind of financial support, including assistance with his tuition. Because FAFSA normally requires that parents of students under 24 years of age fill out the application, this student was placed into a huge financial dilemma. Luckily, he discovered that FAFSA does allow universities to declare a student independent of their parents, but the process is sometimes long and harrowing.

The Center for American Progress recently published a report titled: “Unequal Aid: Discriminatory Treatment of Gay and Transgender Applicants and Families Headed by Same-Sex Couples in the Higher Education Financial Aid Process.” This report outlines the discrimination faced by LGBT students, and students with LGBT parents. Unfortunately, until the United States decides that all citizens are equal, students will continue to face discrimination based on one facet of their or their parents’ identities. The process of getting a college education is difficult enough. It’s time that we end discrimination in this country. It might put me out of a job, but if that's what it takes, I'm really OK with that.

New blogs are open

Current Issues Students:  the new blog have been created for the second half of the course. Each is based on a student recommendation.  You should receive invitations to join these 5 new blogs this afternoon.  If you do not (or if you need the invitation to go to a different email address), please let me know.  The older blogs will remain open for students who want to post in them for this week.

The new blog titles are: Higher Education in Colorado, For Profit, International, Protest and Conflict, and Graduate Education.

College Pregnancy

A freshmen returns from class emotionally drained. On top of a calculus and chemistry exam next week, she has one more test she fears. She takes her third pregnancy test of the day and it's still positive. She promised her parents she'd be responsible at college and she is grown up. She isn't sure who she can talk to. Though she thinks at least half the floor is sexually active this feels different, shameful, embarrassing.

The college environment isn't designed for parents. Married and family housing are largely part of the past. Though non-traditional students are on the rise, it isn't all that common to see a pregnant traditionally aged student on campus.

I work with one student who just got pregnant. Her parents told her they'll continue paying for school, but she has to figure the baby out by herself. She may find ads in the local paper offering to care for the baby. She may have a supportive friend group, but just because someone will hold your hand in the delivery room doesn't mean they'll help you get through classes, test, work, and holding a baby shower in your floor lounge.

Is this a population we should be reaching out to and helping them succeed? Or is this a group that just shouldn't be in school? Abortion has become an increasingly political issue, rather than a human issue. To breach the subject of her pregnancy with faculty, staff, or students could bring support, quick condemnation, or a careless "just take care of it."

The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy petitions in Washington to increase education about unplanned pregnancy, especially at community colleges. Here are three alarming statistics about pregnancy on community colleges:

• 61% of people who have a child while in college drop out before obtaining their degree
• The dropout rate for people who have a child in college is 64% higher than those who don't.
• 48% of all community college students claim to either have been pregnant or gotten someone pregnant

Forty eight percent?! I challenge someone to identify another issue that affects 48% of our students that is as poorly funded, or about which we are more poorly educated. Because we have made this a political issue, we've been paralyzed in our ability to respond to it. Though we address this issue with high school students, more unplanned pregnancies occur to women in their 20s.

What should we do? I've got a few ideas...

1. We should talk about sex with college students.

2. We should provide emotionally and physically safe environments for women to talk about options.

3. We should provide counseling for women who are pregnant, who have had abortions, miscarriages (1 in 4 pregnancies end in a miscarriage), and with postpartum depression.

4. We should provide counseling and support groups for men who are facing pregnancy decisions.

Pregnancy on campus is an academic success, retention, mental and physical health, and community issue. We have an obligation to respond.