On Monday, the Board of Trustees approved a partial dorm refund, a partial refund on student activity fees and an optional credit/no credit grading policy. The university previously announced a technology loan program and extended emergency funding to students in dire financial straits because of coronavirus.
But some students believe CUNY has still not done enough. The University Student Senate, the university’s student governance body representing those at 25 CUNY schools, issued a list of demands that includes a full tuition reimbursement for the spring 2020 semester.
“Classes are still going on, but they aren’t the same in-person lectures and labs that students paid for,” explained USS Chair Timothy Hunter. He connects the issue of this semester’s tuition reimbursement to an ongoing struggle at CUNY, where, for the past several years, tuition has increased steadily. “It’s time for the state to chip in and give CUNY what they owe.”
After all CUNY students lost because of coronavirus, Hunter said, it’s “the least [the state] can do.”