I am majoring in Business Administration at QCC with the plan to become a financial advisor or investment banker. I am the first in my family to attend college, which is a unique experience. I pay for college through FAFSA, ASAP, and the Howard Memorial Fund. I think TAP should award more money. My challenges affording college have come from the fact that winter classes aren’t covered, and I have had trouble getting to campus due to the lack of MetroCards.

I am a Theater and Acting major at QCC. When I graduate, I would like to pursue a higher degree. I will be the first in my family to graduate with a completed degree. I receive financial aid: both TAP and FAFSA. I would like them to expand the minimum award size. My biggest challenge is that I was denied from the ASAP program because I apparently had too many credits from the past, almost four years ago. Because I was denied from this program, I was unable to qualify for a free Metrocard. The costs of MetroCards and transportation are burdensome, so I think ASAP should be more inclusive in allowing people into the program. Food is also really unaffordable. In terms of the quality of what campus has to offer, my professors are great and very supportive in my academic journey. However, I’ve had a lot of trouble finding an advisor. I definitely think they can update our classrooms as well. The classrooms are either scorching hot or freezing cold, with no in between. They can certainly stand to improve the technology.

My major is Communication Sciences and Disorders at QCC. I would like to pursue a job in speech pathology. I am the first in my family to attend college. It is a lot of pressure to succeed but I am proud to be the first to pursue a degree. I work and pay for college out of pocket. Rent and affording housing have been the biggest financial challenges because there are a lot of overhead costs to consider when attending college. Food and transportation have been among the greatest costs. In terms of struggles on campus, I also feel like there is a huge disconnect between my advisor and me, with my advisor being hard to find. There is a severe lack of mental health resources on campus as well. We should also have more comprehensive recycling options on campus. CUNY should be free and fully funded.

I study Business Administration at QCC and would like to pursue a higher degree after graduation. I will be the first in my family to complete my degree and graduate. It inspires me; I want to make my parents proud and be the first in our family to graduate from college. My ASAP advisor helped me get a head start in succeeding at building my programs and setting up my schedule. I receive FAFSA, TAP, and have been awarded a merit scholarship. The minimum awards for TAP should be increased significantly. The specific allocation of funds from my financial aid is disproportionate and does not cover the cost of non-tuition items. The skyrocketing costs of textbooks has been a huge obstacle to completing my degree. They are unaffordable and a huge burden. One thing on campus that is helpful is the food pantry, which I utilize from time to time for a quick snack after practice. The advising at QCC is all very disorganized. There is never immediate assistance, problems never get solved right away, and there is always a wait-list. In addition, the website is almost always down, and our Wifi is spotty. I don’t ever take the elevators because I do not trust them; a lot of my friends have been trapped in the elevators before.

I am a junior majoring in Psychology at Queens College. I hope to get a PhD in Psychology and pursue a career in research. In my family, I’m the older brother and the first to attend college. I’m the first one to navigate these websites and systems like FAFSA and TAP, so I’m learning how to do all this for the first time. I had to apply for FAFSA and TAP myself since I’m the one in my family who speaks English well, so it’s a lot of pressure. I have to translate FAFSA to my parents and then translate my parents’ documents to FAFSA to get them on the website. I usually have to submit the FAFSA application by a certain deadline and I struggle filling it out properly before then. I also feel like the website for TAP is very complicated. It’s not intuitive. I struggle to do what I need to do. I rely on FAFSA and TAP to pay for college. My financial aid doesn’t cover the winter and the summer semesters, so when I take those courses, I have to pay out of pocket. Science textbooks are very expensive. I rely on the library computers since I don’t have a laptop. Whenever I try to find a computer, most don’t turn on or are frozen, and you can’t even log in. Also, the printers are really difficult to use and don’t do a good job printing. In addition, I don’t think there are enough opportunities or programs on campus to help students prepare for job interviews and resume building, but I’ve had some good professors who have helped me get a better understanding of how to get internships, become more aware of how to present myself for job interviews, and connected me with opportunities etc.

I am a Sophomore majoring in Psychology. When I graduate from QCC, I plan on going to John Jay to pursue a degree in Forensic Psychology. I receive FAFSA and TAP and received a small scholarship last semester. I am hoping to become the first one in my family to complete and graduate college. However, I have faced a lot of challenges paying for college, including the unnecessary and seemingly random fees that we receive. Every time I try to modify my schedule, there is a fee associated with it. Any modifications to your schedule (professor dropping a class, etc) can result in you becoming a part-time student, which can negatively impact your financial aid. Another of the biggest obstacles to affording college is the cost of transportation. We need free OMNY card options for students. Furthermore, the skyrocketing costs of textbooks as well as professors requiring us to pay for access to websites for homework, have become burdensome. Not only does this assume that students have access to a computer, but it also assumes they have access to stable wifi. If you don’t do the homework or have the textbooks, you can’t pass the class, which further endangers your standing with financial aid. The price of food on campus is also too high, which leads to students taking the bus to get food off campus, which adds to the cost of transportation. As far as class options go, there might not be enough classes open next semester for me to complete my degree. The upkeep of our campus is nonexistent. There are dangerous potholes and cracks in the concrete. Sometimes, when I have a class on the 4th floor, the elevator is broken.

I major in Office Administration and Technology at Bronx Community College. I fund college through financial aid with TAP and Pell. The money I get for financial aid covers tuition, but there is nothing left over. I have struggled a lot with taking as many classes as I do and not being able to work because of how many classes I have to take. I then struggle to pay for all the things that TAP doesn’t cover, like textbook fees. Because of this, I have had to quit several times and take a year off to work and then come back. When I was in ASAP, I had a key class that I had to take, but they only offered it at night, which I could not do, so I went to the advisor and was basically told to drop out since I had to take that class to get into any of the others that I needed. Because of that, I did drop out. Most of my classes are now online. 

I am majoring in Paralegal Studies at Bronx Community College. I plan to move on to a four year school and then eventually law school. TAP and Pell’s financial aid cover my tuition. TAP’s eligibility and award size should be changed because it covers tuition, but not the other costs associated with coming to school, like subscription services for specific classes and textbooks, which are expensive in my major. Without these resources, it is easy to fall behind. On top of textbooks, the costs of childcare were really, really high for my two children. We had to either use a credit card or a money order, and I would have to wait for my financial refunds to pay for it. The early childhood center is great though. I don’t think I would be able to manage anything if my kids weren’t there. Being one of the first in my family to go to college, it has hit me that we have been economically at the mercy of all our employers. My parents encouraged us to go to college but they don’t really understand a lot of the challenges that face college students like the need for that work/life/school balance. In addition, I think that if the infrastructure needs and the advisement issues aren’t addressed, enrollment and retention are going to continue to be an issue. I have gotten stuck in the elevator in different buildings multiple times. The constant need for infrastructure repairs means longer routes to classes, which can make you late. There are a few buildings that are not ADA accessible. My advisors did not have enough information about my current degree program to advise me adequately, requiring me to have to do a lot more research on my own and also spend two extra semesters here because I was not put in the right classes. In terms of class options, the electives required are not offered, leading to us having to take classes at other CUNYs. The schedules there don’t always line up with the BCC schedule, so I get home really late two days a week and have to travel to those other CUNYs. Plus, adhering to the schedule the daycare sets while figuring out my class schedule has been hard. And the approval and denial process of taking classes outside of BCC is really complex. With all of the steps, it took me an entire summer to get these classes approved when they should just be offered here since they are part of our degree program.

I am a Data Science major at City Tech. I pay for college using FAFSA and TAP. My biggest challenge with funding college has been having to pay the borrowing company back the money while also having to pay $34 a week for MetroCards/OMNY. In terms of infrastructure, our elevators do not work, and one side of our campus is under construction.

I am a Junior at SUNY Purchase studying Political Science with the goal of becoming a criminal defense attorney. I am the first in my family to go to school, and I have found that there is a lack of guidance and understanding of finances. It makes it hard to follow a timeline of responsibilities needed to be done. I get financial aid, private loans, and still have to pay a portion out of pocket. I work two jobs on top of an internship and this still doesn’t make ends meet. Jobs and internships also require funds for transportation or they cut into my time needed to be at work to afford school. I have struggled with receiving scholarships or grants to help me pay and feel a lack of support in getting this aid.