{"id":4150,"date":"2016-10-26T15:24:54","date_gmt":"2016-10-26T19:24:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hunterword.com\/?p=4150"},"modified":"2017-03-29T19:02:04","modified_gmt":"2017-03-29T23:02:04","slug":"is-the-cuny-experience-really-a-great-bargain-for-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hunterword.com\/index.php\/is-the-cuny-experience-really-a-great-bargain-for-students\/","title":{"rendered":"Is the CUNY Experience Really a Great Bargain for Students?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Senior Writer Anthony Falletta, October 26, 2016<\/strong>
\nGraphics Courtesy of Railyard Film Production from its movie, STARVING THE BEAST<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Tuition for CUNY students increased by more than 30 percent from 2011 to 2016 John Tarleton, a reporter for the Clarion, the union newspaper of the Professional Staff Congress<\/a> CUNY, wrote in an article. The legislature passed a bill in June 2011 that allowed the Board of Trustees to increase tuition by $300 per year for the next five years following 2011. This tuition increase came on top of an already imposed tuition hike of $230 at senior colleges and $150 at community colleges that the Board of Trustees imposed in November, 2010.<\/p>\n

\"National

National statistics about increasing tuition and feess<\/p><\/div>\n

Tuition and student debt are big national issues. PSC First Vice President, Steve London, was quoted in the article by John Tarleton, saying, \u201cExpecting some of the nation\u2019s poorest students to pay more and more will only reduce access to college and expand social inequality \u2013 the opposite of CUNY\u2019s mission.\u201d His union represents 25,000 CUNY instructors and some staff.<\/p>\n

Wearing black fringe denim bell-bottoms, a white silk blouse and stacked heel shoes from Top Shop, Stephanie Loucas, a 20-year-old media studies major, spoke highly of her education despite the increasing tuition. \u201cMoney’s money and everything’s expensive but it really is the best bang for your buck. It’s dirt cheap for its value and in comparison to every other damn school,\u201d said Loucas, who lives in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, and was expecting to graduate in the spring.<\/p>\n

In between drags of a Marlboro light cigarette in front of the Hunter West Building and the no-smoking sign, Loucas reminisced about her one semester at Connecticut\u2019s Quinnipiac University. \u201cI was paying $50,000 a year for what in my mind is the most coddled education,\u201d she said. \u201cIn my opinion, I would have walked out $200,000 in debt for less of a well rounded perspective on education, learning, working \u2013 being an overall, functioning adult.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf all school was free, I would’ve maybe considered an NYU or something in Manhattan but maybe not CUNY. But, being at a CUNY I get all these skills for a fraction of the price,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Lydia Gjonbalaj, a 22-year-old junior said she liked CUNY. An art history major, her full tuition is covered. \u201cFor me tuition has never really been an issue, I guess, since I receive financial aid, I don\u2019t pay much attention to it,\u201d Gjonbalaj said in the lobby of the Hunter West Building.<\/p>\n

Gjonbalaj, a native Staten Island resident, said, \u201cCUNY has been good to me, I don\u2019t think I would really change much. I\u2019m aware that there are other students who would say differently but this is me speaking from my experience with CUNY.\u201d Gjonbalaj is in that 44 percent of CUNY students who receive financial aid. \u201cOther students I know in the CUNY system, not just Hunter, are incessantly complaining about a lack of opportunity at CUNY- but for me you have to make your own opportunities and it\u2019s much more rewarding,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"National

National statistics about the decrease in state aid for higher education.<\/p><\/div>\n

Ilana Krugol\u00e9 said she has profited a great deal from attending Hunter. The 21-year-old media studies major, with a concentration in documentary and television production, said, \u201cMost people can go through their four years at Hunter and come out debt free. Even though people complain that the tuition is getting higher every year, you can’t beat the price of a CUNY. You get the same quality of education as any other private college for a much lower price.\u201d<\/p>\n

Expressing nostalgia, Krugol\u00e9, who lives in Coney Island, said if money wasn’t a factor and she was a senior in high school trying to decide which college to attend, she would have enrolled in NYU. \u201cThis was my dream school but the amount of loans I needed to take to complete an undergraduate degree was astronomical.,” she said. “Due to NYU\u2019s reputation and not knowing much about the quality of education at Hunter, I would have gone to NYU. Knowing what I know now, I would choose Hunter even if money wasn’t factored in. I know that I had the best college experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

While sipping a grande blonde roast coffee at the Starbucks on the corner of Lexington Avenue and 63rd<\/sup> Street, Krugol\u00e9 said, \u201cSometimes people at Hunter don’t appreciate the way things are here but the grass isn’t always greener on the other side. The faculty here at Hunter is made up of professors who work at other institutions like Columbia, NYU and even Yale.”<\/p>\n

She said she believed that “at the end of the day the quality of education is very similar to other great schools.”<\/p>\n

Robert Bahnsen was more cynical about the subject of tuition. A 21-year-old architect major in his fourth year at CUNY’s City College, he said: \u201cAt first glance I don\u2019t think that I get what I pay for. The services and equipment that are available to me are not up to par. The opportunities are few and far between. I think the fact that there aren’t enough classes for the amount of students is ridiculous.”<\/p>\n

“Having to fight to get into a class that you need to graduate is ridiculous,” he said about one of the factors that can delay students graduation. He was referring to the to course reductions that can occur because of budgeting problems. “But then I remember that it\u2019s the most affordable way to get a degree that’s up to caliber needed to succeed in our society,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

If given the opportunity to attend a different school, in a scenario where money wasn\u2019t a factor, the Brooklyn native said, \u201cI could think of a lot of other schools I\u2019d attend. The facilities at CUNY\u2019s are old. The system of professionals is in disarray.\u201d Bahnsen noted that his opinions were influenced by article written by the Observer<\/em> regarding CUNY Chancellor James Milliken\u2019s rent-free apartment.<\/p>\n

“While he\u2019s enjoying his rent-free Upper East Side pad, the university system is slapping students\u2019 hands away when they ask for money to do silly, frivolous things, like go on an academic field trip,” writes Observer reporter<\/p>\n

Marie Solis, describing Milliken\u2019s rent-free, Upper East Side, 3,000 square foot apartment that rents at $18,000 per month. It is equipped with four bedrooms, 4 \u00bd baths, a formal dining room and a terrace.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe budget is terrible. As a school that has a significant amount of its population juggling work and school, it doesn’t offer itself to us. Studios, computer labs, and workshops close early. It’s run like a business,\u201d Bahnsen lamented interviewed in his modest wood shop overlooking Harlem at City College.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s evident that CUNY won’t hestitage lavishing money on administrators. However, this writer questions the distribution of money. CUNY doesn’t seriously invest in faculty, facilities, or resources for the most part. The public sees multi-million dollar donations from wealthy donors each year. Funding seems to go towards renovations and new buildings and programs, certainly not to improve the salaries of professors. And that begs the question: So where exactly is funding from the tuition increases really going?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Anthony Falletta can be reached at Anthony.Falletta19@myhunter.cuny.edu<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Senior Writer Anthony Falletta, October 26, 2016 Graphics Courtesy of Railyard Film Production from its movie, STARVING THE BEAST Tuition for CUNY students increased by more than 30 percent from 2011 to 2016 John Tarleton, a reporter for the…<\/p>\n

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