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‘I’m like the slut of literature’: Fran Lebowitz speaks at NYU’s Casa Italiana VOLUME LVII | ISSUE 9
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2021
NYU is now meeting 100% of applicants’ financial need The current first-year class is the first to receive financial aid that fully meets students’ financial need, with average financial aid packages increasing by over $11,000 since last year. By ARNAV BINAYKIA News Editor For the first time, NYU’s financial aid packages met the full demonstrated financial need of every student in its firstyear class. The new policy, which started with the class of 2025, also covers international students, according to NYU spokesperson John Beckman. Beckman added that the university expects to continue meeting demonstrated financial aid for every accepted student in the future. Until this year, NYU did not guarantee it would meet the full demonstrated need of every admitted student. The university has not yet made a formal announcement of the change in its financial aid policy. NYU webpages mentioning financial aid continue to refer to the university’s previous policy. MeetNYU, the social media brand for the university’s admissions office, posted a comment on a TikTok video on Nov. 6 referring to the policy change. “NYU is going to match demonstrated financial need starting with this year’s applicant class,” the @meetnyu account wrote in response to complaints about NYU’s steep tuition. Prospective applicants and their families have also been made aware of the decision during NYU campus tours, according to multiple student admissions ambassadors. Beckman confirmed the change, adding that the average amount of financial aid allotted to new students increased by $11,000 this year. “With this fall’s entering class of first-years ... students’ financial aid packages met 100% demonstrated need
LAUREN SANCHEZ | WSN
NYU’s financial aid packages have met the full financial need of every student in the current first-year class. This is the first time that 100% of every applicants’ financial needs were met.
for the first time,” Beckman wrote in an email to WSN. “The average financial aid package increased to $50,000 from approximately $39,000 the year before. NYU expects that first-year students in future incoming classes will also receive financial aid packages that meet 100% of demonstrated need.” According to Beckman, the university has not decided whether it will expand
the new policy to cover current students not in the class of 2025. If it does, financial aid packages for these students would likely increase. NYU’s tuition increases over the past five years have been among the highest of its peer universities, with an increase of nearly 12% between 2017 and 2021. Even after taking average financial aid into account, the actual cost of attending
NYU was higher than Columbia University, Yale University, Fordham University and the University of Southern California in the 2019-20 academic year, the most recent year for which complete data is available. According to Beckman, the decision to meet the demonstrated financial aid need of every new student was made last spring. “Piloting this step was discussed with
student government representatives last spring,” Beckman wrote. “Beyond this step, we’re reviewing what else we may be able to do to enhance financial aid, but given how NYU’s budget cycle works, it’s premature to discuss at this point.” Contact Arnav Binaykia at abinaykia@nyunews.com.
Victory for Tandon workers as tentative agreement reached with NYU By RACHEL COHEN Deputy News Editor A union representing approximately 38 non-teaching staff at the Tandon School of Engineering came to a tentative agreement with NYU on Friday, Nov. 12, after several bargaining sessions. If ratif ied, the six-year contract would provide the employees with a variety of new benef its, including
childcare subsidies, a percentage increase in wages, and portable tuition for the dependents of union employees. The workers, who organize as the Off ice and Professional Employees International Union Local 153, are still in the voting process as of press time. “Our members are happy that they can now breathe freely,” said Susan Hermon, the union chief shop steward and program coordinator at Tandon’s Center for K12
STEM Education. “You are in limbo — you don’t know how salary is going to be, how medical coverage is going to be — all of that is up in the air.” Since the summer, the union — which organized under the slogan “We Are Violet Too!” — has called for the same tuition remission plan, child care assistance, increased wages, and a remote working policy for NYU faculty and non-union staff. The employees continued to abide by the terms of its previous contract, which expired in
December 2020, until a new agreement was reached with the university. Under the tentative agreement, the Tandon employees received a 17.25% increase in their base salary, a 2% increase over the union’s 2015 contract. They are also now eligible to participate in NYU’s Portable Tuition Benefit Plan for faculty, administrators, researchers, retirees and staff, which includes a $7,275 tuition reimbursement for their children who attend an accredited college or university. Previously,
union members received financial support only if their dependents attended NYU. “None of our kids are getting accepted into NYU, which is the issue,” Hermon said. “In the last six years, none of our children are getting any tuition remission. Younger people with younger families now want to take advantage if our kid does not go or get into NYU and at least receive some form of assistance toward our tuition to another educational institution.” CONTINUED ON PAGE 2