New York University
PA-7: Affordability and Access

NYU has numerous policies and programs that support accessibility and student success for low income students. Underscoring the commitment to those with need, nearly all NYU undergraduate scholarships are need-based, with NYU providing about $300 million in need-based institutional Undergraduate Grant Aid alone. Since the creation of NYU's Affordability Steering Committee (mentioned below), NYU has move from #4 on the Chronicle of Higher Education's 2015-2016 list of "Most-Expensive 4-Year Private Nonprofit Institutions" list to #39 (2018-2019).

Although there are many ways in which support is developed, NYU's Office of Student Success has implemented NYU Connect, a tool to enhance communication between students, faculty, advisors, and key administrators/services across the University to support the success of all students, but particularly students at risk. The tool provides "alerts" and enables awareness and intervention so that appropriate action can be taken to support student success in terms of retention, graduation and an enhanced student experience.

NYU's general awarding philosophy focuses on students with need rather than merit. The commitment to success is underscored by many programs that provide support in addition to financial assistance. As an example, NYU has the largest New York State Higher Education Opportunity Program (NYSHEOP) in the state. With over 800 students, the NYSHEOP and Collegiate Science and Technology Programs support students from economically disadvantaged financial and education circumstances and provides substantive financial aid, and also significant tutoring, peer-to-peer support, and academic preparedness. This group of students has a higher graduation and retention rate, attesting to the strength and expertise of the support they receive through NYU. The funding is shared with the state, but NYU contributes significantly to the financial aid package and support. In addition, NYU operates several pre-college pipeline and access programs, ensuring that talented but under-resourced students and their families have opportunities to consider and prepare for college as early as middle school. NYU has also invested in establishing an online financial education option for current and prospective students. These user friendly tutorials are specifically designed to help families learn about paying for college in advance of selecting a college and helps them make sound long term financial decisions.

All incoming undergraduates who file their financial aid applications on time and show financial need are automatically considered for NYU scholarship. Emphasis is given to financial need rather than academic merit in nearly all of NYU's scholars programs. There are several programs within NYU that are developed specifically to meet financial need for low income students. This includes opportunities for both international and undocumented students with financial need. Scholarship recipients with financial need who are traveling abroad have their financial aid package reassessed providing additional funds when needed to provide support for their academic endeavors abroad.

The NYU Office of Undergraduate Admissions conducts specific outreach to students and families from under-resourced communities by visiting high schools in specific low-income communities, as well as many of the community-based organizations that support the students and families in those communities. NYU conducts the annual College Access Leadership Institute (CALI) for rising juniors and seniors, which is a 5-day college readiness bootcamp that promotes knowledge and skills needed to engage in the college search process and put together the best college application possible. The Community College Transfer Opportunity Program provides additional application and transition support for students from under-resourced backgrounds applying to NYU from designated partner community colleges. The support includes credit evaluations, introduction to University support services, and general University navigation support for academic success. The NYU Office of Undergraduate Admissions has established an entire unit within the office dedicated to Pipeline Programming and outreach with a special emphasis on collaborating with organizations dedicated to educational access for those coming from low income backgrounds. NYU's graduate and professional schools, colleges, centers, and institutes engage in individual and occasionally cooperative efforts to attract a diverse student body, including students from low-income backgrounds. These efforts include partnering with organizations that encourage graduate and/or professional school degree attainment (such as the McNair Scholars program) and offering application fee waivers to students with economic need and/or a background of engagement with certain civic institutions or service to their communities. The University's central Division of Enrollment Management, through its Office of Graduate Marketing & Admission Consulting, offers a free graduate and professional school fair to the community, attends "diversity fairs" encouraging students from a variety of backgrounds (including low-income beginnings) to learn about graduate and professional school opportunities, advertises graduate programs in publications targeting similar populations, and offers campus visits with tours of programs serving low-income populations.

A month into his new role at NYU, President Andrew Hamilton announced affordability as a priority and introduced budget changes that led to the smallest increase in cost of attendance in over 20 years: he reduced a planned increase in tuition and fees from a typical range of 3.5–3.9% to 2.9%, froze housing and meal plan costs in New York at the previous year’s rates, and froze the University registration and services fee for the year. A month later, President Hamilton named students, faculty, and staff to a new Affordability Steering Committee. To execute on ideas and strategy, the Committee Chair and Senior Presidential Fellow Ellen Schall formed a complementary Working Group of administrators with oversight of major units. The two groups work in parallel to pursue our goal of making NYU more affordable for more students. Many of these efforts specifically focus on improving access, retention, and ultimately graduation while maintaining a positive student experience. We have also explored the various expenses other than tuition that contribute to the cost of attending NYU and explored ways to cut those costs. Information about the initial Affordability effort and subsequent updates are available : https://www.nyu.edu/about/university-initiatives/affordability-steering-committee.html A few examples of the work includes: - Through consultation with all the undergraduate schools, acceleration advisers were designated in each school and information was made available to students. - In the Fall of 2017 the School of Professional Studies, in collaboration with the Wasserman Center and school academic advisors, opened its entire catalog of non-credit courses to NYU juniors and seniors at no cost to them. - NYU reduced the cost of course materials by 40%. Follet Higher Education Group assumed operations of the NYU Bookstore and has made books more affordable to students. - To help cut down on transportation costs, NYU increased the number of shuttles across its locations in New York, and began offering a low cost shuttle to and from airports for students and other community members at high travel times.

Undergraduates are considered for part-time scholarships in specific programs designed for part-time enrollment (for example, some programs within the School for Professional Studies). In general, students who attend part-time for a semester who are otherwise eligible for scholarship may have their scholarship prorated to enable part-time flexibility. Additionally, NYU participates in the state grant Aid-for-Part-Time-Study (APTS) program, designed specifically to provide support to eligible students enrolling less than full-time.

Each fall and spring semester, the Center for Student Life provides a childcare subsidy to eligible graduate students to assist with childcare services. The Graduate Childcare Subsidy is a financial assistance program provided by the Division of Student Affairs to assist full-time graduate students who have a child under the age of 6 with the cost of childcare. Students can apply for the subsidy in the Fall and Spring Semesters. Information on the Graduate Childcare Subsidy is available here: https://www.nyu.edu/students/communities-and-groups/students-with-children/Application.html Additionally, students with children can utilize Master's level consultants through Carebridge, which help connect parents with resources and information regarding childcare, services for children, and other information during consultations through the program listed here: https://www.nyu.edu/students/communities-and-groups/students-with-children.html

There are numerous programs that strongly support non-traditional students. A few are listed below with links to the broader program description, including options for students of non traditional age, veterans and military affiliated students, those from Community Colleges, etc. Supporting a diverse community is a priority and is reflected in NYU's academic programming. -- School of Professional Studies Prison Education Program Undocumented Students Veteran/Military Affiliated Seeking Second Bachelor Degrees Online Students Community College Transfer Opportunity Program Tandon Veterans Lab First Class: Career Development Support for First Generation College Students Focus Mentorship Program Stern Fertitta Veterans Program Graduate Student Childcare Subsidy