I study Precolonial History. I am a 4th year student receiving a TAP award and the Pell Grant. I work 30 hours a week as a home attendant. Pell covers textbooks, metrocard and food. I live with my mom so I don’t have to worry about rent.
It is stressful to work and be in school. I wouldn’t be in school if I didn’t receive financial aid. I’d be working. I am not graduating on time, I have to stay an extra year and will run out of TAP. It stresses me out a lot I don’t know what I’m going to do. It’s really messed up that in order to receive TAP I’ve been forced to be full time. It’s a lot of work, I can’t handle it. The workload from five classes is a lot. Paper after paper. 12 credits is considered full time but you can’t graduate on time.
Most people I know don’t graduate in 4 years. The hardest part about being a student is balancing work and finances, it effects my mental health. We need better mental health services! Food is super expensive too, especially at Hunter which is on the Upper East Side. Who can afford to spend $10 a day on food? It’d be great if there was an affordable option for students.
I was raised in a single parent household with my two sisters. My mom worked full time to support us all. She didn’t get the opportunity to go to college but wanted better for me and my sisters. No one in my family has finished a four year degree yet and that is mainly because of the financial burden.
I am a full time student enrolled in the EOP program and do receive financial aid, but that covers tuition. I still have multiple loans in my name I had to take out and have worked 1-2 jobs during the school years to pay for living expenses such as books, food, my car, and most recently off campus rent because seniors aren’t allowed to live on campus anymore. I would love to just focus on school but that’s not possible.
I am worried about paying back those students loans and possibly wanting to further my education because of the costs. Investing in higher education will greatly improve the future students of New York.
I am a pre-law student. I have always received tuition assistance through FAFSA, New York State TAP, and/or merit scholarships. English is my third language. I am first generation American, both of my parents came from Paraguay.
I’m a single parent, I have a five-year old. I work part-time for a litigation attorney in White Plains. Now that I’m newly divorced, it results in an increase in money I get from FAFSA and the state.
I already qualify for financial aid through TAP, so I didn’t have to apply for the Excelsior Scholarship.
As a dual enrollment student taking high school classes and college classes at the same time, I felt prepared for college, but not for the debt that would come with it. I am a full time junior who works part time and tries to chip in for tuition as I see my parents struggle to make ends meet.
I applied to the Excelsior Scholarship looking for some financial relief and was denied because I only completed 24 credits my first two semesters instead of 30 at Hunter College. This was because I had already accumulated college credit in high school, so it wasn’t necessary to overload my schedule. New York should have affordable education for everyone so that students can focus on school and being able to buy health meals, instead of having to juggle work, travel expenses and school.
I was a General Education major at Bronx Community College. I wasn’t able to graduate and needed to get a full time job. I couldn’t do both. I had participated in the workstudy program but I wasn’t making enough. I had to pay rent, food, cable, and utilities. I was awarded a partial Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) award and the Pell Grant.
I found out about ASAP too late, but if I had known about it, I would have applied to it for the tutoring to bring my grades up! I wanted it for the tutoring. Everyone should have ASAP. While I was at BCC I received SNAP assistance. The transition from high school to college was really horrible. Textbooks were the biggest cost. I couldn’t keep up with my studies because I couldn’t afford the materials, and this is when I was receiving TAP and Pell. Pell helped for some but I also had to pay for all of my living expenses it was way too much.
I am a freshman, and my major is undecided but I’m looking to go into social work. I am taking out government loans which doesn’t cover my full tuition. The rest is covered through a savings account from my dad.
Textbooks are the most stressful cost. I just got work study placement and the money will go toward food, textbooks, and bus transportation. What CSI needs to have is more shuttle buses for people all over Staten Island. It is the closest CUNY to me and still so hard to get to.
My name is Stephanie Almodovar and I am a freshman at CUNY City College. I am currently looking to go into Civil Engineering. Right now, I work as a group leader at a local YMCA and this job allows me to save a little for school. Unfortunately, I do not receive Pell Grants and I do not qualify for the Excelsior Scholarship because my mother’s income is just above the cut off level. Often times I struggle with paying tuition and buying the necessary textbooks for school.
I do not qualify for work-study so most weeks I have to choose between saving money towards school or buying lunch. I usually only eat lunch 2-3 times a week but sometimes that’s too much because buying snacks will deplete my savings and I would not be able to eat for the rest of that week. Thankfully, with the help of outside scholarships, I am now able to pay tuition without worry. However, at any time, that could change. I try my hardest to not let these troubles overcome my college experience but sometimes it all becomes too much. In all honesty, I dream of tuition-free CUNY so that one day I will no longer have to worry about paying for school and just enjoy learning.
I am a super senior at Hunter College majoring in philosophy. I personally have had to stay an extra year at Hunter College because I did not get one of the required courses I needed to graduate on time and now I must wait an extra year to graduate. As a result, I have run out of my TAP award because it only covers four years. I still get the Pell Grant, but now I must buy my textbooks and other living expenses out of pocket. Without enough classes available, without enough time with advisers to properly plan out our schedules, students suffer. I have had classmates offer me money to hold spots in coveted bio courses when I have earlier course registration than them, because there are not enough bio course seats available to accommodate students at **the** CUNY school for students majoring in the pre-health sciences. This is not acceptable. Students deserve better, money is owed to education. That is why Governor Cuomo must pass the MOE.
I am a first semester freshman at Bronx Community College from The Gambia looking to study International Relations. I have four children, and my wife and I are both in school and have to work to support our family. I drive a cab as a way to earn money. I wouldn’t be able to go to school without the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP), the Pell Grant and the ASAP program.
I am planning to go to a four year college and am worried because I won’t have ASAP for my bachelors. I will continue to get Pell and TAP. But if NY isn’t giving secure funding for more course offerings, it is unclear if I’ll have the courses available to ensure that I graduate on time. Since I have a family to support, there is no way I will be able to afford to pay out of pocket if I run out of financial aid. This is why I we must have a Maintenance of Effort from our state government.
I am a freshman studying liberal arts. I receive TAP and the Pell Grant and I am part of ASAP. I use Pell to help pay for the bills since I live with my mom. I would like to go to Brooklyn Institute to be a sonographer. I think I am going to have to take out loans for my bachelors. I used to work, but I am taking 17 credits this semester. I used to work on weekends when I took 12 credits which would be the maximum amount of credits I’d want to take while having a job. If I didn’t receive financial aid I’d have to take out a loan.
