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Photo: natcom.org
Potential New York University student Nia Mirza started a Change.org petition to fight a tuition increase at NYU, which she claimed occurred after early decision students were accepted.
In the petition, Mirza said tuition was raised to $71,000, marking a $7,000 difference from the original $64,000 that early decision students were told.
However, NYU’s Vice President of Public Affairs John Beckman told NBC New York that Mirza’s figures were incorrect. He said the cost of tuition for the 2014-2015 school year was actually $66,542 and that budgeting plans were not set in place when early decision applicants were accepted.
“Part of what the students are able to see now online in their accounts is the difference between this year’s tuition and fees and next year’s: an annual tuition increase of approximately 3% — in line with recent annual increases at NYU and other private research universities — that reflect increases in our cost of operations,” Beckman said to NBC.
Nia Mirza acknowledged the continuous tuition increase, but felt that applicants should have been informed sooner.
“Even if this is the case, the cost should have been increased way back in January and not when the quarter of the year has already passed and when students have planned their budget according to the cost of attendance mentioned when they were given their offers,” Mirza stated in the petition.
But Mirza hoped that this case will draw attention to a larger issue, which she called “the sky-rocketing costs of tuition which is only affordable for students from very wealthy backgrounds.”
According to The Institute of College Access and Success, an organization that works to make higher education affordable, 71 percent of students graduating from 4-year colleges in 2012 had student debt.
The Change.org petition currently has 2,970 signatures.
-by Connie Lee