I am a freshman at Buffalo State. I am a political science major from Queens, NY. I came to Buffalo State planning on majoring in political science because I’ve always been interested in politics and watch the news a lot, though it was comedy shows like the Daily Show that first got me into politics. I want to go to law school so I can practice public interest law, serving clients who can’t afford a lawyer. This means, of all my siblings, I will be the odd one out—the only non-accountant!

I went to the High School of Environmental Studies in Manhattan, where the emphasis was on environmental science. That got me interested in environmental studies. I decided on Buffalo State because I definitely didn’t want to stay in the city for college and wanted a change of scenery so I could focus on studying.

As a freshman, textbooks have been a concern because, even though rentals are sometimes an inexpensive options, it’s first come first served. The bookstore is almost always out of rentals when I go to buy them, which means I have to pay full price. Luckily this term, I managed to get a few rentals for $130, but many classes have multiple books that are hardly ever used. You can’t really tell what books you’re actually going to need, and it becomes an expensive guessing game.

I am not working at the moment because, even though I qualify for federal work-study, there aren’t nearly enough on-campus jobs for all the students who qualify. That means I have to look for off-campus jobs. Given Buffalo weather and not having a car, my choices are limited. It’s important to have a job because of how expensive college life is.

With TAP and all the scholarships I received, I still pay about $5000 toward tuition per semester. My family is paying these costs out of pocket, and I currently can’t register because I haven’t paid for the previous term. I can’t even look at my GPA if I wanted to transfer because everything is frozen until I pay. Courses for my major could get filled before I have time to pay up and register. Financial aid advising needs to be clearer so students know where they stand.

I’m from Harlem in New York, and I’m a sociology major and criminal justice minor at Buffalo State. Before coming to Buffalo State, I attended Promise Academy, a charter school in Harlem which was very helpful in getting me and my classmates through high school to college. Growing up, I always wanted to do criminal justice because it was always a passion of mine, especially around policies like stop-and-frisk and police harassment of African-Americans. I wanted to learn about the criminal justice system as it is so that I could help to implement changes.

I originally started college at Gannon University in Erie, Pennsylvania on an athletic scholarship playing basketball, but it was too much of a shock—and too different from what I was used to in New York City—for me to adjust to the change of environment. I left mid-semester and applied to different schools and Buffalo State got back to me first. Because I left Gannon mid-semester, though, my grades never transferred, and I am not currently receiving a scholarship. Thankfully, I didn’t have to take out loans, but my family and I are paying out of pocket around $5000-6000 per semester.

Though I get some funding for textbooks through Promise Academy, the bill easily adds up to $500 per semester, and this term I have one class with six different assigned texts. In my experience, a lot of the time these books aren’t useful, and we only use them once or twice.

I have had advisors, but I have had difficulty connecting with them. I have to reach out to them, and when I started and was struggling, my advisor wasn’t reaching out to me and didn’t ask about how I was doing. I think we need more funding for advisors so that they can monitor students more actively. As it is, I didn’t meet my advisor until my third year here.

A clearer and better funded system needs to be implemented to allow students to get advice in a timely way. As a senior, now I know the people to talk to and have no problem going to the chair of my department. So now I have better resources, but I’m at the end of my time at Buffalo State. There needs to be better communication about resources that are available and how to get to them. Students like me shouldn’t fall off the grid and not be able to catch up with their work. I think better funding would increase graduation rates.

I’m a sophomore at Buffalo State. I’m coming to Buffalo from the Bronx, where I also went to high school. I’m a psychology major, and when it comes to my career goals, I go back and forth between wanting to get into clinical psychology or having my own business around health care.

One of the reasons I chose to come to Buffalo State is that it is one of the less expensive SUNY schools, but even with that, I wouldn’t call it affordable. One of the biggest costs, which changes a lot depending on the semester, is textbooks. I actually didn’t take a math class in the past knowing that I was going to have to spend a hundred plus dollars on a single textbook. This semester, though, I didn’t spend anything on textbooks because one of my teachers has an online textbook, but last semester I spent a little over $300 for textbooks.

I also don’t get a lot in financial aid, so I find myself constantly having to take out loans. I’ve looked into sponsorship and other programs to apply for to pay for school, and I currently do get one grant, but it’s not that much money.

I wish there was an easier way to find out what I can apply for as far as financial aid goes. I’ve been to the financial aid office maybe four times throughout my two years here—so every semester—really just to try to understand my bill and to understand what resources there are to be able to pay it.

I have an advisor, but I wish there were more options, and it was more convenient for students to schedule meetings because a lot of the time your advisor is not available. Even if the resource is technically there, if you can’t access it when you need it, I think it needs to be changed.

I grew up mostly in upstate New York. I went to Lyons High School in Lyons, NY, which is a really small school; my graduating class was about 60 people. My career goal is to become a software developer or programmer—something along those lines—and I am taking computer science classes here at Buffalo State.

I transferred to Buffalo State from Finger Lakes Community College, which was a two-year school, and Buffalo State was one of the less expensive options for four-year colleges.

Last semester was my first semester here in Buffalo. Because my family is recognized as being in need, I get financial aid of like all stripes. I get Pell Grants and would have gotten Perkins if they hadn’t done away with that. I get TAP and Excelsior. Despite all of that—which sounds like a lot, but it’s not—there’s still money that I have to pay out-of-pocket even though my family really can’t afford it.

At Finger Lakes there were three professors that got together and wrote their own book, and that helped with textbook costs there. This semester, most of my textbooks, like three of them were under $20, but one of them was $150. It was one for my information systems class, and there was another I had that was like $90, and it was just to access an online version.

If I could just focus full-time on schoolwork I would do that, but I need money to pay for textbooks and living expenses beyond what’s covered by financial aid, so I am looking for a job.

I’m a freshman at CCNY. I receive financial aid and pay for books, transportation, and food with my earning from work. I don’t receive work-study and am not part of any opportunity programs. If I didn’t receive any financial aid, I would probably have to take out loans and ask for my parents’ support, but that would be an additional burden on them since they have to have other financial responsibilities.

I would certainly appreciate a child care center on campus because a lot of CCNY students really need it. We need a fully funded CUNY because not all students have access to money. Many of them are struggling. I’m lucky to have parents that would support me if I couldn’t work, but many students don’t have that kind of support. Having to work full time at a job puts a lot of stress on a student and often interrupts their ability to study and maintain their grades. Being in school on its own is very stressful and adding a job to that becomes very draining and can lead to mental health issues.

My biggest challenge as a CUNY student is transportation because the only bus that I’m able to take to get to campus is not reliable, and it interferes with my attendance in class. 

I’m a junior majoring in international studies, and I’m minoring in English and Economics. After graduation, I would love to work with a nonprofit organization and hopefully one day I will be able to work with the UN!

I receive TAP and the Pell grant. I’m part of SEEK, which has helped me tremendously because they have provided me with a very helpful advisor, financial help, and an amazing environment for me to be in. I use the money that I get as a refund after my tuition to pay transportation, food, and books.

I’m currently looking for a part-time job and an internship with a nonprofit organization, but because of my busy schedule at school, it’s very difficult. I’ve also applied for federal work-study, but because financial aid covers my tuition, my application isn’t a priority.

I would appreciate a child care center on campus because I have many classmates that bring their children into the classes, and although they don’t often disrupt the class, they are a distraction to their moms because they have to pay attention to the children instead of paying attention to the class.

Time management has been my biggest challenge at a CUNY student.  I’m very concerned about graduating on time because I have changed majors. It has become very stressful because I am taking six classes next semester. If I didn’t receive financial aid, my parents would have to take out loans to help pay for tuition which would be really hard because I would have to work in order to support myself as well.

We need a fully funded CUNY because many plan on pursuing a master’s or a doctorate degree after college, and if students no longer had to worry about paying for their bachelor’s degree, they could save for furthering their educations. Also, it becomes very hard for a student to maintain a high GPA if they have to work to pay for their tuition, books, and food.

I’m currently a sophomore at SUNY Cortland majoring in Political Science. At this point, my plan is to attend graduate school after graduation.

As far as paying for school, I rely on taking out loans, using the financial aid I receive, and having my parents pay some tuition out-of-pocket. I receive both TAP and the Pell Grant, which allow me to pay for school each semester. I don’t work, so I need financial aid to pay my tuition and to pay for textbooks.

If I didn’t receive financial aid, in all likelihood, I would not be able to attend college. So many people struggle to pay for college, which is a large part of why SUNY needs to be fully funded. If SUNY was better funded, those who can’t afford college would be able to go, and middle-class families that have more than one child would have the ability to send all of their children to school.

The biggest challenge that I have faced as a SUNY student is dealing with the stress of not knowing how my parents will pay for my sister to go to college in two years and worrying about paying off my student debt.

I’m a senior at SUNY Cortland majoring in Sociology with a minor in Anthropology. Once I graduate, I plan on getting a job working at a children’s home in case management.

I pay for school with private loans. Because my parents don’t qualify, I don’t receive TAP or the Pell Grant. I have no option but to take out loans. I have to work back home and on the weekends when I’m at school to help pay for college and other expenses that I have.

When it comes to textbooks, my parents help pay for them, but I pay out of pocket for groceries because I don’t have a meal plan. I decided to take out another loan so that I could afford a meal plan, but that hasn’t gone through yet.

Since my dad makes too much, I don’t qualify for financial aid, but my parents still can’t afford to send me to school so my only option was to take out multiple loans and have my dad co-sign them. My parents have already put my two siblings through school, and we all have had to take out loans because it’s just not possible for my parents to pay for us all to go.

My biggest concern is that when I leave school I won’t get a job that will allow me to pay off my loans, which I have to start making payments on six months after graduating. If SUNY was fully funded, I wouldn’t have to worry about paying all these loans back, and it would also open doors for those who can’t afford to attend school.

I am a senior at SUNY Cortland studying Sociology with a concentration in Criminology. My plan after graduation is to go into social work, and I’m currently looking at a possible job in Maine that doesn’t require a master’s degree. I can’t afford graduate school, and my loans are already collecting interest so I have no option but to only look at jobs that don’t require another degree.

I currently pay for school with subsidized and Stafford loans and a small amount of financial aid. I don’t receive TAP, and I only receive a small amount of aid from the Pell Grant. In order to pay for school, I have to work. I work at the child care center at the YWCA before and after school.

I sometimes use the money I make from my job to pay for textbooks, and my parents help out when they can, but oftentimes if I can’t afford a textbook, I just don’t get it. I have had textbooks that cost more than $100, and I just can’t afford that. I have no option except to not buy the book.

I don’t have a meal plan, so I pay for groceries out of pocket, and sometimes my parents help pay for food. If I didn’t receive financial aid, going to school wouldn’t be an option for me, or I would have no choice but to co-sign another loan.

A fully funded SUNY system would allow those students who can’t afford school to have the ability to attend, and it would help current students stay in school without fear of paying loans back. Some students have no choice but to leave college because, financially, they just can’t do it. How can anyone start a life after graduating when they’re so deep in debt?

Not only is paying for school a challenge I face, but paying for parking is another financial obligation that I have. I would say that I have paid close to $300 in parking tickets since I have been here, and the cost of a parking pass is huge.

The biggest challenge that I’ve faced as a SUNY student is having my classes blocked when I can’t pay my bill. I wasn’t able to register for classes that I needed because I couldn’t make my payment. This could prevent students from graduating on time because certain classes are only offered at specific times, and if students can’t make their payments then they won’t be able to register when the class is offered. This forces students to pay more and stay for another semester.

I’m a senior at SUNY Cortland majoring in philosophy. After I graduate, I plan on working for a nonprofit organization. I pay for school with both financial aid and loans.

I receive TAP and the Pell Grant, and I also have a part-time job during the semester.

When it comes to textbooks, I usually don’t buy them because I can’t afford them. I try to find an online PDF version of the textbook, but if I can’t find that, then I have no option but to not have the book for class. For food, my financial aid covers the cost. I use it to buy groceries.

I depend on my financial aid, and this year I didn’t receive as much as previous semesters. My financial aid went from $4,000 to $400 because my sister moved out so my parents were expected to have that extra money to pay for my tuition. My mom had no choice but to take out a loan to help cover the costs of school.

We need a fully funded SUNY system so that all students have the opportunity to attend college, and they won’t be worried about paying for it. My biggest challenge as a SUNY student has been paying for school and worrying about how my parents are going to help me pay for it. A student’s main focus should not be paying for school; they should be focused on pursuing their education.