CCNY Finances Weather Economic Storm So Far

While Columbia and other universities have tightened their purse strings in response to economic crisis, the City College of New York has reported few serious consequences from the financial turmoil, and may even benefit from a larger applicant pool as a result of its low tuition.

CCNY—located on Convent Avenue and 138th Street—receives money directly from the state and federal governments. While the school may see reduced state funding in the near future, and some students have personal financial difficulties, the impact of the crisis has been comparatively mild for the institution itself.

“Fortunately the credit crunch has not yet hit us,” Thelma Mason, director of financial aid at CCNY, said. “We’ve only had three or four students who have had difficulty obtaining one of those loans from a bank or other lending institution.”

Mason noted that most CCNY students do not rely on the types of loans that have been most affected by the failing economy, as the majority of the school’s $18 million in loan funds come directly from the federal government.

But CCNY’s fate may change once government budget cuts take effect. According to The New York Times, the City University of New York—of which CCNY is one branch—has seen funding cuts of $69 million from the New York State government and $11 million from the New York City government this year, out of a $2.4 billion annual budget. Furthermore, the Times reported, CUNY chancellor Matthew Goldstein recently stated that he planned to appeal to Albany to raise tuition, which currently costs $4,000 for the system’s four-year schools.

While CCNY as an institution has not experienced undue financial hardship, the economy has had a larger impact on the student body, evidenced by an increase in applications for both admission and financial aid.

“We have experienced a 17-percent increase in financial aid applicants,” Mason said, adding that the financial aid office has been working to address payment issues for families hurt by the poor economy.

“We spend a considerable amount of time talking to stressed students and parents, who are now requesting special consideration due to loss of employment, loss of rental income due to foreclosures,” Mason said.

And while Ellis Simon, CCNY’s communications director, said it was “premature to say what the impact of the crisis has been” on applications, both he and Joseph Fantozzi, director of admissions, said there was likely a correlation between the financial crisis and the unusually high interest in CCNY.

According to Fantozzi, the number of students attending a recent CCNY open house was 20 percent higher than in past years. Freshman applications for the fall of 2009 have increased by 25 to 30 percent since last year, and transfer applications have “already surpassed” last year’s total.

“It’s impossible to tell whether this is a direct result of the economy,” Fantozzi said of the spike in applications, “but that’s a likely guess.”

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