I am a sophomore and currently a Liberal Arts major but I plan to become a police officer after I graduate.  I’ve worked with the police for the last two years during the summer and it’s been a real eye opener for me because I barely see any black female police officers there, and that’s something I’d like to change.

Unfortunately, my plans suffered a setback this year.  My GPA is too low to receive financial aid this semester, including the Excelsior Scholarship, but past semesters I did receive aid.   Without the aid my family and I have been struggling to find a way to pay for school out of pocket.  We now are living paycheck to paycheck, and even though there are a lot of things we would like to do, due to lack of funds we can no longer do them.

As a person who was not born in this country, I feel like the system is not set up in a way that enables me to succeed.  For example, I’m doing poorly in my English 151 class and my professor tells me I don’t know how to write to an American standard, but then he doesn’t have the time to teach me how to correct it.  A fully funded CUNY would mean that professors would be able to spend more time with each student, more student services would be available to help students like me improve skills like writing, and I could commit to being a full-time student without burdening myself or my family.

To pay for my education, I get a Pell Grant and a TAP Grant from New York. Usually, I would pay for books with my book voucher, but this year I couldn’t because tuition went up. The way the voucher works is that I would need to have at least $100 more in financial aid than tuition costs. Due to tuition hikes at Nassau Community College, that did not happen this semester. Instead, I had to use a credit card and some money that I had left over from my summer job to pay for my schoolbooks.

I plan on graduating Nassau Community College, and moving on to get my Bachelor’s Degree in Education. Since I want to be a teacher, I will need to follow that with my Master’s in teaching which only adds to the costs I will have to pay. The cost of attending a 4-year school are very concerning for me, because I know I will have to take out student loans. I’m worried that by the time I would be eligible for loan forgiveness programs; these programs would have been dismantled. Any cuts to these programs would be putting my future at risk.

Here in New York, we need to increase funding for SUNY and CUNY schools so professors and academic programs can be properly paid for and so electricity and other utility bills aren’t put on the backs of students. Our state leaders can definitely do a better job in terms of funding our schools.

When I graduated from Brooklyn College with a Business Management and Finance degree, I thought this was it. Financial aid from TAP and the SEEK program had covered my tuition and expenses, I would find a job and start my life. However, I am back in school studying Accounting in order to get more job security because I could not secure a job within the first major I studied.

Currently, I do not work, so I pay for college and other expenses with the money I saved since I graduated Brooklyn College. Luckily, I worked hard and can fall on that cushion I provided for myself. Then again, I have to make a lot of decisions on how to allocate my money, such as I ride the bike to school rather than take the bus because transit money can be used to buy food, rent or supplies for school.

Eventually, my savings will run out and I will have to work again in order to go to college. I would qualify for financial aid, TAP and other services but because of the four-year limit, my time is up. I am already looking in to scholarships and awards because I do not want to take a loan and be one of the many students in debt. Hopefully, after obtaining my second Bachelors I can start studying for the CPA exam, get my license and work in an accounting firm. Although, with that comes more money in order to take the courses to study for those exams. All I worry about are my finances when I should be focusing more on a midterm I have next week for Managerial Accounting.

I am the first in my family to go to college, thanks to the help of a partial TAP award, the Pell Grant the SEEK program and now the Excelsior Scholarship. I am a transfer student, attending Brooklyn College to obtain my Bachelors of Science in Psychology. My father had also lost his job two years ago, so my financial aid situation has fluctuated each year based on how much he makes.

Overall, I am  able to go to school and be the first in my family to graduate college, so I am very thankful that the scholarship has helped with that. The idea of living in New York after graduation is not a problem. The idea of taking 30 credits by the end of the year, however, is.

12 credits a semester is already a lot. I am currently only taking 12 credits this semester, through the SEEK program, which I have been a part of since attending Kingsborough Community College. 

 Without the Scholarship or any financial aid, I would have paid out of pocket since my family is against the idea of taking out loans. The most stressful cost for me right now is my metro card.

I am studying psychology.  I receive the Pell Grant and TAP.  I had to drop chemistry because it was so hard and I ended up becoming part time that semester.  It disqualified me from TAP mid semester, which was really stressful.  Another semester, I dropped Russian and the same thing happened.  If I didn’t receive financial aid at all during college I would be in a lot of debt, probably have a mental breakdown. 

I work as a home attendant 20 hours a week.  I used to do tutoring.  I pay for food out of pocket.  I live with my grandma and we have SNAP.  When I first got into school it was hard to register for the courses I needed.  If college was free it would mobilize and expand people.  People would have more time.  It would help people in need that can barely survive.  Transportation is the biggest challenge for me as a student.  It takes me 2 hours each way.  Also mental health.  There needs to be better mental health services and services for non traditional students. 

I am a Sophomore Computer Science major. I qualify for TAP and Pell, which are not offered in the summer or winter.  I’m constantly worried about failing a course that I need in order to continue on track with my major and graduate on time. 

I don’t get financial aid in the winter.  This is very stressful.  I missed the application process for a program like SEEK that offers priority registration and textbooks.  I don’t have a job.  My parents give me money and I use money saved from my summer job for food.  If I didn’t receive financial aid I’d have to take out a loan. 

My biggest challenge is focusing academically and trying to get by on the money I have.  It’s very difficult to buy food on the upper east side.

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 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.

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 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.