Cooper Union college restores free tuition for graduating seniors
In a move years in the making, the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science announced Tuesday a return to full-tuition scholarships for all graduating seniors.
The New York City-based private college, founded in 1859, had long been tuition-free for all grade levels. But in 2014 it dialed back its longtime commitment that education be “as free as air and water” and began offering students only half-tuition scholarships.
A few years later, the school presented a 10-year plan to restore full-tuition scholarships through saving, cost cutting and fundraising. Now roughly half of the student body attends tuition-free, and, on average, undergraduates pay less than 15% of the college’s $44,550 tuition, according to the school. There are currently 891 undergraduate students enrolled, including 228 seniors.
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“In 2018, we began an ambitious journey to provide full-tuition scholarships for all of our undergraduate students,” outgoing school President Laura Sparks said in a statement. “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.” (Cooper was an industrialist and philanthropist who, before founding Cooper Union, also invented the first American steam train in 1829.)
Current seniors will receive refunds for any tuition payments made for the fall semester and will not have to pay for the spring semester. First-, second- and third-year students will receive full-tuition scholarships in their senior years, according to the school.
“Cooper has long been a leader in full-tuition scholarships for all students, dating back to its founding,” said Robert Franek, editor-in-chief of The Princeton Review. “This decision is a massive step forward to fulfilling that goal.”