Today at 3:30 PM in Washington Square Park’s Holley Plaza (west of the fountain), NYU students will gather to demonstrate just what $659 million looks like. That number is NYU’s aggregate student debt load, the highest in the country for a non-profit college or university.
Although NYU Local is, in a sense, “hosting” the event along with MTV’s Andrew Jenks, this is not a Take Back NYU-style protest, with a small group of students agitating for haphazard demands. The support must come from you, from the entire NYU student body. There must be a willingness to stand up to a higher education system that will leave so many from our generation reeling from the repercussions of their debt.
All you have to do is determine how much debt you will graduate from NYU with and show up at 3:30. For more information about the motivations for the demonstration, read our article, see the Facebook event, or check out WSN’s feature from yesterday.
As a college student with loans, grants and scholarships, I find it completely mindblowing that today’s college students are complaining about the cost of education as if it was a right granted from on high. Its not, get over yourselves.
I saw the interview today on MSNBC and a stat was thrown out that the unemployment rate for college grads is at 10%. How many of those unemployed were art history majors or some other obscure liberal arts major that would have a hard time finding a job even if the unemployment rate was 2%.
If you are upset with the cost of NYU, then leave and go somewhere cheaper. The question you need to ask before going out and protesting the cost of your education is this: “Am I getting the quality education I am paying for, or am I paying these high costs and only getting a TA teaching my course?” You should be demanding that your tenured professors actually teach the classes they are should be teaching and spend less time worrying about their next book, journal article or research grant.
Should it also be mentioned that, although NYU’s aggregate student debt load is the highest in the country for a non-profit university, it is also the largest private university in the country, by far? Otherwise the aggregate number by itself might be misleading.