Savas Apsilos, Purchase College

I am a sophomore and Language and Culture major, and I believe that higher education can benefit from being free given the high costs of essentials like food, care products, opportunities like study abroad programs and classes with certain fees, such as Art + Design courses. My decision to attend Purchase rested significantly on its close proximity to New York City, and I feel like that convenience can be greatly expanded on with more affordable higher education. This way, more students can discover their potential without financial barriers. Secondary education should be a right, not a privilege.

Marihana Heloany Reis, Purchase College

I am a sophomore Political Sciences Major. After graduating I want to get a master’s and a PHD to become a professor. The price of tuition was one of the obstacles that I faced to go back to school. For me, as an immigrant being here by myself, the dream of achieving higher education had to be on hold for more than 4 years, so I could save enough money to be able to afford it, since I could not apply for financial aid. This situation affects many of the population, but especially Latinos and African Americans. If the education was free and funded, I could have already graduated and become one step forward to following my dream. Unaffordable higher education hurts the racialized and marginalized population, a lot of times keeping us in the poverty cycle. I believe in a high quality and free higher education for all.

Maurysha Cuttino, SUNY Cortland

I am Maurysha Cuttino. I am a senior at Suny Cortland hoping to pursue my degree in Professional Writing. I am from Tully NY, and my Assembly Member is John Lemondes and my Senator is Rachel May. I chose a SUNY school for many reasons, mostly for cost and distance. 

Though SUNY schools are cheaper they are still a lot of money and put people in a lot of debt. I am a future step-parent, and do help take care of my significant other’s kids. I am always worrying about money problems from school and other costs. I even ran into an issue this semester involving a single class and the possibility I may have to come out of pocket for it. I want to obtain my degree in hopes to develop a better career for myself as well as live my dream. I wish schools were free for those with less money or no family help. I know I could do so much better within classes and school without having to worry about if I’ll have enough money for coal, or if I need to miss a day of class to work an extra shift.

Because of costs and financial concerns, I never got the true college experience that most have in movies. I never got the sports or club experience due to the fact I had to make a living. I work full time overnights in addition to being a student. I think people don’t realize that there is a lot of money going into attending school, such as gas, rent and other priorities. Even food is expensive and when you spend all day on campus without a meal plan since you need to figure out how to eat and maintain your health. People need help and it would be nice to have more of that help.     

Brittaney Thomson, Hunter College

My name is Brittaney Thompson, and I am a junior at Hunter College. I major in Psychology and Studio Art. As a student who does not receive financial aid, I have to pay for my education out of pocket. I have to work early in the mornings before attending class. There were times when I could not afford to pay my tuition and I had a hold on my account. This hold prevented me from registering for my classes on time and by the time I got  the hold off, the classes I needed were either all full or waitlisted. I usually have to settle for hard classes I did not want to take or classes at late hours.This one semester I had a hold on my account and struggled to get it off in time so I had to miss school. I had to go through the hassle of readmitting to Hunter and that process broke me. My experience with fighting to stay in school was hard, but I could not give up. Thankfully, I am still here.  I love attending school but it is hard to enjoy my time because I have to be working tirelessly to be able to afford it. Working before classes not just drains me but also affects my performance. My college experience so far has really scarred me and I hope in the future tuition can be free or at least more affordable.

Amirah Alwagih, City College of NY

I’m a psychology major. I’m a junior here at City College, and I think CUNY should be free because cost of living in New York City is notorious for being so high, and between that, tuition, and MTA fares, there’s not really space for you to use that money for anything that you need or anything for you to move around financially, and it’s becoming really depressing, people are moving out of New York City and people are not enjoying New York City and hustle culture as toxic as it is.

Justin Yulo, City College of NY

I’m student here at City College New York and I think I can benefit from a free CUNY and more importantly other students can benefit from a free CUNY because the cost of going to university here, while CUNY is an affordable university, it is still pretty expensive for some, especially low income families. In my case I still have to take out student loans, in the 10,000s attending here, and even right now I still have to take a part time job just to pay for some of the expenses like the transport and travel with my metrocard and overall I think a free CUNY builds an important part of our society which is the next generation coming up and learning in such a prestigious university that boosts communities.

Sadia, Borough of Manhattan Community College

I am an international student at BMCC so I pay a lot of money for school. I remember a few days back at Chambers Street and BMCC, the train tracks caught fire and we were struggling to get out of the train station. The OMNY TAP wasn’t working to get in another station, and I didn’t have anymore money on my card. Unreliable trains have caused me to be late so many times. The A train sometimes delays from Broadway Junction. There have been more than a few times that I was 10 minutes late to my class because of the subway.  A previous semester, I had 4 classes. Four days a week coming back and forth is about 20 dollars a week. And I think that is too much. I think they should make it more affordable for people who need help, so that they can get to class.

Alexander Valerio, SUNY Cortland

I am a full time student at SUNY Cortland. I am a junior majoring in Business Economics with a minor in Spanish. I am from the West side Bronx, NY. I come from a single-parent family of 5 which includes my mother, and 3 younger siblings. When applying for college, I was determined to leave my community which I had been born and raised in order to have new experiences and be exposed to more opportunities. I primarily applied to SUNY and CUNY schools because the costs of a private education would have been too large of a financial burden on my family. The COVID-19 pandemic made my college decision process a lot more difficult due to the fact that it prevented me from visiting more schools in person. Therefore, I was a little skeptical about making the decision to accept SUNY Cortland’s offer at first. However, I was later informed that I had been accepted into the Educational Opportunity Program. This gigantic push and help from the EOP, combined with the help of Pell and TAP grants, have allowed me to have an opportunity at higher education. Although I am very grateful for all the help I have received, I still take out student loans to cover the remains of my college expenses. Although I am hard working and confident that if all goes wrong I will still be able to find a job with my major on my own, I am still concerned sometimes about having to job hunt after graduation and not having enough resources. I believe that a higher education should be made more financially attainable and student debt should be forgiven at least to some extent as well.

Angel Ybiles, Borough of Manhattan

Angel Ybiles, BMCC
I am a student at BMCC and I live on my own and pay for my education out of pocket. I have had to sacrifice hours at work in order to go to school. With paying for education, transportation, and all my daily needs, that means less money going to other resources. Honestly free or reduced cost transportation would be one less thing to worry about. With paying for school and bills, it would make life a little easier in general.

Mohammad Haikel, College of Staten Island 

I am a student at College of Staten Island. Public transportation has caused me to be late a couple times where I needed to take the bus to school and I was late to a final. And it’s the same situation when I’m going to work. Free or reduced price transit would save the stress on myself and other students in general.