Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Cooper Union, One Of The Nation's Only Free Universities, To Start Charging Undergraduate Tuition
By
Lauren Evans
Published Apr 23, 2013
Modified Apr 23, 2013
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Lauren Evans
Published Apr 23, 2013
Modified Apr 23, 2013
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
It was sweet while it lasted. Cooper Union, an institution founded in 1859 and predicated on the belief that education should be free, announced today that it will start charging its undergraduate students $19,000 tuition beginning in 2014. The school will continue to offer free admission to some students (those identified as being in the "greatest need"), and others will pay on a sliding scale, the Times reports.
“After eighteen months of intense analysis and vigorous debate about the future of Cooper Union, the time has come for us to set our institution on a path that will enable it to survive and thrive well into the future," the school's Board of Trustees Chairman Mark Epstein said in a statement. "Consequently, the Board of Trustees voted last week to reduce the full-tuition scholarship to 50% for all undergraduates admitted to The Cooper Union beginning with the class entering in the fall of 2014."
The public meeting, which reportedly lasted less than an hour, revealed a board divided on the question of tuition, though Epstein declined to give a breakdown of the votes. The statement does however shed some light on the other options considered by the board, including the possibility of cutting enrollment, slashing budgets and simply downsizing the institution. In the end, though, none of the suggestions would prove feasible.
"Being mostly alumni ourselves, we share your sense of the loss of this extraordinary tradition," the statement says. "In the final analysis, however, we found no viable solutions that would enable us to maintain the excellence of our programs without an alteration of our scholarship policy."
Several students have in the past vocally protested the tuition proposal—nearly a dozen even locked themselves on the eighth floor of the building last year. The move comes exactly one year after the school announced that graduate students would have to pay up.
Tagged
cooper union
east village
education
Lauren Evans
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
2 pedestrians killed in Bronx crash after driver ran red light, police say
The NYPD said the investigation is continuing and no one had been arrested Saturday.
By
Brittany Kriegstein
and
Ann Givens
Published Oct 10, 2026 at 1:24 p.m. ET
Rain could put a damper on NYC’s long weekend. Here’s when it will clear.
Remnants of Hurricane Isaias could bring more than an inch of rain, gusty winds and even a thunderstorm Sunday before conditions improve Monday.
By
Brittany Kriegstein
News
Rain could put a damper on NYC’s long weekend. Here’s when it will clear.
Remnants of Hurricane Isaias could bring more than an inch of rain, gusty winds and even a thunderstorm Sunday before conditions improve Monday.
By
Brittany Kriegstein
Holy civics! NYC schools' own comic books in the spotlight at Comic Con
By
Jessica Gould
What we know about the ICE shooting in NYC
By
Karen Yi
DSA to Mamdani: Fire NYPD commissioner if ICE doesn't leave NYC
By
Elizabeth Kim
,
Brigid Bergin
and
Ben Feuerherd
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .