In an Oprah Winfrey-worthy reveal, the incoming class of seniors at New York’s Cooper Union learned at today’s convocation ceremony that they would pay no tuition for their final year. Outgoing president Laura Sparks announced, moreover, that for each of the coming four years, seniors at the school of art, architecture, and engineering would attend tuition-free. 

It’s the latest step on a journey back toward full tuition scholarships for all students after a years-long crisis. 

The school was founded by industrialist Peter Cooper in 1859 on the philosophy that education should be “as free as air and water.” Supported by a 1902 gift from Andrew Carnegie and income from real-estate taxes on the Chrysler Building, it charged no tuition for over a century.

Confident about its finances, the school erected a $167 million, Thom Mayne-designed new building in 2009. But when incoming president Jamshed Bharucha revealed serious (and previously seemingly undetected) budget shortfalls in 2011, the school instituted partial tuition for some students for the first time in its history.

Students hang banner below the historic clock tower at Cooper Union in New York City during a 2012 occupation protesting implementing tuition in the historically free school. Photo by Free Cooper Union, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

But not before students revolted, occupying the president’s office. Students, faculty and alumni brought a lawsuit in 2014, resulting in an investigation by the state attorney general. Several board members who had approved of charging tuition abruptly departed on bitter terms, and the president resigned the next day. The settlement of the suit resulted in ongoing oversight by financial monitor Kroll.

In 2018, the school announced a 10-year blueprint to return to full scholarships. Three years later, it revealed to Artnet News that despite the pandemic, it was on track to make that goal.

Sparks made the announcement during her last week as the school’s president, a position she took up in 2017. 

This latest news was made possible by gifts from three alumni donors, one of them anonymous; the others are George Reeves (who earned an engineering degree in 1964) and his wife and business partner Ross Wisnewski; and John Manuck (who earned an engineering degree in 1969) and his wife Mary. 

Cooper Union president Laura Sparks. Photo by Leo Sorel, courtesy of the Cooper Union.

“We are so encouraged that Cooper is moving steadily toward tuition-free undergraduate education for all, and we are thrilled by this amazing opportunity to contribute to achieving this goal now for current students in their senior year. It is an honor to be a part of this investment in the future and a joy to witness the impact of doing so,” said Reeves and Wisnewski.

Manuck said, “The return to a tuition-free Cooper Union is of paramount importance. Establishing this status for the senior year demonstrates a serious commitment in this direction.”

The move comes in the context of ballooning costs for higher education at private universities in the U.S., which, according to US News and World Report in 2023, had risen by some 40 percent over the last two decades, adjusted for inflation. According to the Education Data Initiative, outstanding private student loan debt stands at some $128.8 billion.