York Students Have the Lowest Debt in All of CUNY

A study from The Institute for College Access & Success reveal York College as the lowest student debt in the United States at $2, 271 compared to both public and private colleges.

The study was based on a national survey of 1,000 higher education institutions. TICAS identified the top 20 U.S colleges with the lowest student debts. Out of the top 20 colleges in the U.S, three of them are from CUNY. Number five is Baruch with $5,597. In twelfth place is Lehman with $8,525 and in twentieth place is Brooklyn with $11,200. Some of it is based on the minimum amount of money being requested from loans or having full rides pell grants, scholarships and tap.

“I got financial aid while I was at York in the form of Pell and Tap,” said Ashley Oken, a York College graduate who majored in English. “I didn’t have to take out a loan because it paid my tuition in full.”

Oken said that it’s great having students graduating from York coming out with the lowest debt.  “I guess the price also depends on the size of the program and a host of other factors,” said Oken. ”It doesn’t surprise me for that reason.”

A lot of graduates and current students are not surprised by the low amount of debt. Camille Azarcon, social work major, 21 is also not surprised by that amount.

“I’m not really surprised because if you were to compare it to other schools that are private universities like NYU with their tuition of $60,000, the tuition in cuny schools like York are lower,” said Azarcon. “I take out loans, but every loan I take for every semester is under 10,000. My brother goes to St.Johns University and he takes out a $10,000 loan each year.”

The size of the colleges doesn’t necessarily determine the value and financial aid to the students including private ones such as Princeton University. There are other factors that play a factor in determining the cost of tuition.

“It’s based on the fundings of the school,” said Azarcon. “If one is a private university those who have many benefactors that donate to the school even if the number of students is smaller will still be a lot of money for the tuition.  Benefactors are either those who invest their stocks in these schools and those who graduated from these universities that donate money.”

Although the tuition is high in some colleges, managing money for education is the key to success. Financial aid experts gave advice to Nerd Scholar on keeping a college cost down. The advice was based on loan’s not being free, filing FAFSA in as soon as possible and applying to scholarships.