I am currently a senior doing History Major with a Political Science Minor. I have no dream job with my major. My parents cover my living cost and some tuition however most of the money is from a private student loan. I don’t receive anything from the TAP program. Most family members have gone to college and graduated so I feel obligated to do the same thing. For freshmen and Sophomores a lot of classes that are needed may be gone because they get the last picks. Parking has been a major issue for the people on the top part of campus. it seems like the sports buildings are much better funded than the others. Book store return policy is a pain. If you miss the week of returns they make it very difficult to return them.

I am Maurysha Cuttino. I am a senior at Suny Cortland hoping to pursue my degree in Professional Writing. I am from Tully NY, and my Assembly Member is John Lemondes and my Senator is Rachel May. I chose a SUNY school for many reasons, mostly for cost and distance. 

Though SUNY schools are cheaper they are still a lot of money and put people in a lot of debt. I am a future step-parent, and do help take care of my significant other’s kids. I am always worrying about money problems from school and other costs. I even ran into an issue this semester involving a single class and the possibility I may have to come out of pocket for it. I want to obtain my degree in hopes to develop a better career for myself as well as live my dream. I wish schools were free for those with less money or no family help. I know I could do so much better within classes and school without having to worry about if I’ll have enough money for coal, or if I need to miss a day of class to work an extra shift.

Because of costs and financial concerns, I never got the true college experience that most have in movies. I never got the sports or club experience due to the fact I had to make a living. I work full time overnights in addition to being a student. I think people don’t realize that there is a lot of money going into attending school, such as gas, rent and other priorities. Even food is expensive and when you spend all day on campus without a meal plan since you need to figure out how to eat and maintain your health. People need help and it would be nice to have more of that help.     

I am a full time student at SUNY Cortland. I am a junior majoring in Business Economics with a minor in Spanish. I am from the West side Bronx, NY. I come from a single-parent family of 5 which includes my mother, and 3 younger siblings. When applying for college, I was determined to leave my community which I had been born and raised in order to have new experiences and be exposed to more opportunities. I primarily applied to SUNY and CUNY schools because the costs of a private education would have been too large of a financial burden on my family. The COVID-19 pandemic made my college decision process a lot more difficult due to the fact that it prevented me from visiting more schools in person. Therefore, I was a little skeptical about making the decision to accept SUNY Cortland’s offer at first. However, I was later informed that I had been accepted into the Educational Opportunity Program. This gigantic push and help from the EOP, combined with the help of Pell and TAP grants, have allowed me to have an opportunity at higher education. Although I am very grateful for all the help I have received, I still take out student loans to cover the remains of my college expenses. Although I am hard working and confident that if all goes wrong I will still be able to find a job with my major on my own, I am still concerned sometimes about having to job hunt after graduation and not having enough resources. I believe that a higher education should be made more financially attainable and student debt should be forgiven at least to some extent as well.

Hi, my name is Abigail Bang. I decided to go to SUNY Cortland because I was recruited for gymnastics. Also, it has a very good sports management program and they’re one of the tops in the nation. I am currently studying sport management with a concentration of facility and event management. My plans for the future are to be a personal trainer and a gymnastics coach on the side for higher level athletes. My parents are paying for the first year of school and I am paying for the rest through student loans. I have to pay for gas, food, and my rent comes out of my savings. I do have to work to cover expenses, and what I do is Instacart, personal training, and I work at a club gymnastics center in Syracuse. I work roughly 15 hours a week and three jobs total. College during a global pandemic was very mentally challenging because all of my classes were online while I was also working a full time job.  Getting a college degree to me means that I am much more likely to get a job in the sports industry because people look for college degrees. I am kind of worried about paying back student loans. I do not receive financial aid. Based off of Cortland, I’ve had a very good experience with my professors because they care about us, other professors have challenged me a lot because they don’t care as much, especially after covid was over. 

I attend SUNY Cortland as a full-time student. I’ve been here for two years and  attended SUNY Broome my freshman and sophomore year. When applying for college I didn’t know where I wanted to go, but I knew that I didn’t want to be that far from home. That’s why I decided on  Broome because it’s about 30 minutes from home. I was able to live off campus and not commute so I was able to get a real college experience. After two years there I decided to go to Cortland because it was far from my home where I am able to be independent, but still close enough to go home if I need to. I am able to go to Cortland without having to have student loans because my parents can pay for it in full. That is a reason why I chose Cortland because I wouldn’t have student debt. Cortland comes with a lot of expenses though whether it’s parking, the price of textbooks (which I don’t always need), or materials teachers make us get outside of the classroom. My major is important to me so I will do whatever it takes to obtain my degree, but the price for many things have gotten out of control and I believe all SUNYs need to look at their finances and think about their students. 

I attend SUNY Cortland as a full time student. I am currently a senior but have been attending school here since I was a freshman. I am from Corfu, New York. When I started considering colleges and going through my options I made sure to keep my parents in the loop as they are the ones who pay for my schooling. I first considered two private schools in different states but as time passed I realized that the tuition cost would be far too much so I began to focus on SUNY schools. When the time came, I ultimately chose Cortland. It felt right and once I heard about their Professional Writing major, I was sold. Once Covid-19 hit, all of my classes were online except for one science lab but I was already on campus so I couldn’t do much to change it. The second semester of my freshman/sophomore year (I am graduating early so it gets a bit complicated) I stayed at home and did all of my classes virtually. Although that first year was tough, it was helpful to my family as we didn’t have to pay the living on campus fees and we received a lot of refunds since I wasn’t using the campus amenities. That semester at home was also the hardest for me grades wise. I began to work while taking these classes and strained myself too much. Ever since then my grades have improved massively and I’ve continuously made the dean’s list. I will say that the toughest part about going to college is the tuition and figuring out how these student loans will affect me in the future. I usually have a discussion with my mom before I move back to school about how we are going to pay for school and although she always figures it out, it’s still a very stressful situation. There should be changes to tuition and what fees are included. I was never a fan of dining hall food so having to pay for a meal plan I barely used felt ridiculous to my family. The amount for a parking pass should also be lowered due to the fact that they will sell way over how many actual parking spots there are on campus. My experience here has been great and I will miss it when I graduate in the spring. 

I am a full time student at SUNY Cortland. I am a senior majoring in Sociology with a concentration in Criminology and a minor in Spanish. I am from the East side Bronx, NY. I come from a single-parent family of 4. When applying for college, I was accepted in different schools and I had different options. However, I was only able to apply to SUNY or CUNY schools because that was all my mom was able to afford and barely. I always wanted to go away for college and one day my high school took us on a school trip to come visit SUNY Cortland and ever since then I started seeing it as an option. I fell in love with the Student Life Center and the peaceful environment at SUNY 

Cortland so I decided to commit it to the school. I pay for tuition through the help of financial aid and student loans. Most of my tuition is paid through financial aid, which is helpful, but it is still not enough. Being able to pay my student loans is something that concerns me the most. I used to have two jobs. During the summer and winter breaks, I work almost every day to help pay for my personal expenses, and I also have a part-time job at school, but it’s not nearly enough to save for my student loans. My mom tries her best to help but there is so much she can do as a caregiver of a single family. I believe college should be free for low income families. Since attending college is almost required in today’s culture in order to secure a well-paying career, I don’t think it’s fair that tuition is so expensive. Students must also pay for their textbooks each semester in addition to tuition. I firmly believe that textbooks should be covered by tuition even if they may cost several hundred dollars. 

My family and I experienced some difficulty during the epidemic. My mother sadly lost her job during COVID-19. The amount of government assistance we received to support our family of four was not enough. It was challenging for a while, and there was even a point when I believed I would have to return home to finish my education. I believed that I would never be able to go to school since money was so tight. I used the majority of my funds to assist my mother with her bill-paying. Nevertheless, I was able to get a job online and assist my mother for the rest of the year. 

Having a college degree is very important for me because it won’t only allow me to have better paying jobs, but it would also allow me to help my family get out of poverty. One of my biggest concerns is having to pay student loans for the rest of my life. I am hoping that one day everyone is able to attend college without having to worry about money.

I am a double major in English and Professional Writing. I transferred to SUNY Cortland in Fall 2020, and am on my last semester. Why Cortland? I’m a homebody and wanted to be able to afford to travel home often. My credits from community college would also transfer well if I picked a SUNY school. Throughout five and a half years of college, I have been able to receive FAFSA, TAP, and Pell Grants. My mom has taken out “Parent Plus” loans for me, and I have taken out loans myself. I’ve had to pay out of pocket a couple semesters to cover the last bit that the government wouldn’t. 

Though I have been thankful to not pay as much, I’m still worried about college tuition. As I’ve heard many say, college feels like a scam. You are to pay all this money, but you are not always guaranteed a full-time job right after graduating. You are, however, guaranteed a large sum of student debt. I cannot say I completely disagree. College is highly beneficial in that you grow as a person in more ways than you can count. Yet, it doesn’t always seem worth the money. I’ve seen people graduate, only to find any part-time job that can guarantee them enough to pay off their debt and bills each month. 

What’s one thing that can change? The requirements of the Excelsior Scholarship. This is a program that seems reasonable, receiving tuition-free semesters as long as you work in the state for as long as you participate in the program. What the application doesn’t tell you is if you take any time off from school in the time you are completing your degree, you are not eligible. The Excelsior Scholarship came out when I was about to be done with community college. I took a gap year between that and Cortland, to make sure I was pursuing what I genuinely wanted to. I also needed to save up money and secure a more reliable form of transportation. When I started in Cortland, I applied to this program but was denied because I had a break between semesters. It was disheartening, as I knew I’d be a full-time student for the rest of my college career and would really benefit from this program. 

I can only hope that the expensive education I have, and will continue, to pay for, pays off. There is still much to do to secure better higher education for all. With this change will come more educated and caring individuals that can have brighter futures, changing the world for the better one degree at a time.

I pay my tuition through the help of my parents and financial aid.  I am fortunate enough that my tuition has been paid through financial aid. I work almost everyday over the summer to help pay sometimes my rent at school and other personal spending I might have. I am the first child in my family to go to college and understood that my parents would not be able to pay full tuition without getting some financial help, however, before I began my college career I always had the impression that going to a SUNY or CUNY school would be considered to be less than nothing in terms of tuition. I think that since tuition has risen over the decade it is very unfortunate for many, myself included. It is not fair that society places this idea that college is a stepping stone for an individual to get a good job and make it in today’s world. Not only is tuition an expense at college but textbooks are another cost for students. Textbooks depending on the class vary but still add up and can be very expensive. Textbooks should not be an extra expense for students. 

The pandemic was a hard time for my family because my mom is diabetic which meant she was at a high risk, which then made it difficult for my dad to continue to work. My mom is a nanny and my dad has a painting service. My dad is an independent company which already makes it hard enough, and then when the pandemic hit it made it harder for him. During this time, I had recovered from unemployment and later began working again in July which allowed me to save enough money to pay my rent junior year without the help of my parents because of how tight money was. 

I personally always wanted to go to college because of the promise that going to college means I would have a good job. I want to finish my degree to have a comfortable life and be able to support myself. I think that although school does cost a lot I would still be at school, however, I would have prepared myself financially before I attended.