As a Junior at SUNY Cortland, I juggle a full course load in biochemistry, part-time work, and extracurricular activities. I am enrolled in the Work-Study program on-campus and I am a Green Representative.  Sponsored by Residence Life and Housing and Physical Plant, the Green Rep program inspires sustainable lifestyles through peer to peer environmental education programs.  I also find time to be a Supplemental Instruction (SI) tutor.  I’m concerned about be able to fully pay back my student loans. If I don’t get a job, then I’m going to be in debt for my whole life, it seems.

I am a married father with two biological and two foster children. I went to school later in life out of economic necessity. Higher education affordability is very important to me. In 2012 I was denied a much-needed promotion. Simultaneously, my wife became pregnant with our daughter. The reality of the world hit us. My family couldn’t afford to live on my salary any longer, so I decided to leave the workforce to pursue a bachelor’s degree.

After excelling at Onondaga Community College, I transferred to SUNY Cortland where a large portion of my educational expenses were covered by aid. However, despite working upwards of 25 hours a week, I still had to take out loans to cover additional costs associated with getting a degree like transportation, rent, and textbooks. I could not afford to satisfy these costs juggling a full-course load and part-time work.

I will be graduating in May and will be pursuing a doctorate of physical therapy coupled with a master of public health from Adelphi University. My hope is that I can progress into the world of rehabilitation in the hospital setting, working with spinal cord injury patients.

I am a senior in the criminology program and an aspiring law school candidate.  My education would not have been possible without taking on a substantial amount of student loan debt. I am frightened when it comes to paying back my loans.

My loans cover tuition costs, and that’s it. I have to pay for cost-of-living expense such as rent, food, and transportation out of pocket. I participate in the work-study program and am enrolled in the Equal Opportunity Program (EOP). Investing in higher education will allow students like me the opportunity to grow as individuals, and ultimately positively affect the great state of New York.

I am a senior at SUNY Cortland, majoring in fitness development and hoping to open my own gym one day. Attending Cortland has been the greatest decision I’ve ever made.  I wouldn’t have been able to go to school without taking on a massive amount of student debt. With increased tuition and academic costs, my family has felt the financial burden associated with a college education.

Both myself and my brother attended Cortland simultaneously for two years, making it even more difficult for my family to afford. New Yorkers should have access to higher education at an affordable rate. Invest in higher education to help CUNY and SUNY students make an impact.

As an out-of-state student, I’m one of the few and far between at SUNY Cortland. I’m a student-athlete and attend Cortland with my brother, effectually doubling the financial burden on our family. Going to school with my brother has been a great experience, however it has definitely been harder for my family to get by. I know the importance of a college degree and have worked countless hours over the summer and winter breaks to save enough money to cover the cost-of-living expenses as an off-campus resident. On top of working long hours, my brother and I have taken on a substantial amount of student loans to cover the sky-rocketing tuition and related academic costs at SUNY Cortland.

I currently am an intern with the Marketing Department on-campus, an All-American Red Dragon football player, and a full-time student with the accompanying course load. Should I also have the added worry about covering the costs of higher education? Most would agree that I shouldn’t. I have had such a great experience here at Cortland as a student-athlete and a communications major. I would hate to see this opportunity that I’ve been given made more exclusive through increasing tuition and costs. That would be a shame.

I am a senior economics major heading towards graduation, and am pleased with the opportunities and experiences I’ve had during my four years at SUNY Cortland. I’ve made friends for the rest of my life. While I have had this positive experience, I also took on on multiple student loans. My family felt the financial burden of increased tuition and related expenses as they put both my sister and myself through college.

The value of a higher education is important to me and my family, so I resorted to a handful of student loans to cover a portion of my tuition and textbooks. Aside the student loan debt that I’ve taken on, I also work part-time during the semesters to cover living expenses and the rest of my tuition. On top of working, I have a maxed-out course load, I participate in intramural sports, and have an internship on-campus. My schedule is busy, and worrying about how to afford the rising costs of SUNY Cortland’s tuition and costs has no place in it.

I have received help through the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) and the Pell Grant. This federal and state assistance has helped me go to school and not have to worrying about paying for it. After taking a long break and working many jobs, I decided to go back to school. I realize that Pell and TAP don’t last forever. This semester (Spring 2017) has been a struggle because I didn’t receive full financial aid. I was able to save money and got loads of help from my parents. Because of this, I was able to meet the payments needed to pay half my tuition, books, Metrocard, and food.

I do appreciate the people that have to work full time and go to school because I know it is not easy. Paying for school made me realize how important programs are for many students such as SEEK, ASAP, and EOP because they help you get to where you need to go.  If it wasn’t for half the help from Pell, TAP and my parents, I wouldn’t be able to complete this semester.  I do wish free tuition in NY State had more support for part-time and undocumented students. Being a full time student and working full time is really stressful and leaves little to no time to actually study for the classes you are taking.

My first two semesters at Bronx Community College, I didn’t qualify for financial aid, even though my family lives on only my mother’s income and there are five of us at home with two of my siblings away for college. But, then I enrolled in the Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP), which has been a blessing for me.  The cost of textbooks and a MetroCard is just too much, especially when multiple people are in college at the same time. I remember I was on my way to the financial aid office with the loan application form for Spring 2017 filled out, when I stopped to ask my ASAP advisor a question. I brought up taking out a loan, but she told me that because I qualified for partial Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) funding, ASAP would cover the rest. I texted my mom in the office that I had great news. After I spoke to her I felt like I was going to burst out in tears because I was so relieved and blessed, like I had been stopped on my way to making a deal with the devil.

College is a time to be challenged but paying for it shouldn’t be the main stressor. At times, it consumes my thoughts and leaves with me with an anxiety about my education and future, when I want to focus on the hope and excitement of earning a degree. There needs to be a change so that the burden of student debt can be lifted from students. We’re the future, after all.

I enrolled myself in the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) and basically, it looks at the amount of money my parents make in a year and based on that, it allows me to apply for special grants and pays off my entire tuition. It also supplies each student with money to buy textbooks each semester. Textbooks are pretty expensive and most times I wouldn’t be able to afford them without the EOP program. Also, the program provides a library of books that we can borrow from instead of buying and anyone is allowed to donate to this library. If it wasn’t for EOP, I definitely wouldn’t be in school, hands down. I wouldn’t be able to afford it at all and even if I was able to afford it, I wouldn’t be able to do it without my EOP tutors, counselors, directors and all their support.

After moving off campus, I found myself struggling a lot with affording food. I didn’t realize how hard that would be. I also found myself struggling to pay for my phone bill and other necessities. There are times where I wasn’t able to pay and I wouldn’t be able to use my phone to hear back from programs or jobs I was applying to. I’ve had to take on two jobs during my time at school. It’s kinda hard to balance work and school at the same time.

I am majoring in political science and theater, and aim to be a senator or mayor. I believe tuition and other costs to attend CUNY and SUNY schools should be state funded. I started college right after getting my GED. When I started to look into schools, I was worried I couldn’t afford it.  A huge obstacle was figuring out where my 2 year old son would go while I was in school. My mother was too old and sick to take care of him and I didn’t have any other family members around me so I felt stuck. My only option was to look for daycare but the prices were way too expensive. I felt like I would be drowning in debt and costs of tuition and childcare. I enrolled at BMCC since it had a childcare center. I decided to do 5 courses in order to qualify for full financial aid.

Luckily, because of the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP), the Pell Grant, and the publicly funded childcare center at BMCC, I was able to afford to attend college. Textbooks and my monthly metrocard were a huge burden for me this year, though.  Luckily I’ve enrolled in Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) for next year so those costs will be covered. I have a part time job that covers these costs currently, but between textbooks, metrocards, and paying for diapers and food for my son, I often can’t afford to buy food for myself. I’m determined to get an education, failure is not an option but it’s come at a cost to my health.