Students Say Unnecessary Spending Makes NYU Too Expensive

Nicole Lee, 18, thought that when she was accepted into New York University, not only would she be given need-based financial aid, but she would also be eligible for low-income housing. However, she did not get financial aid and ended up living in the most expensive freshman dormitory. 

Shortly after Lee committed to NYU, her father lost his job and her family was unsure how they were going to pay for their daughter’s tuition. “NYU told us that even if we got re-evaluated they wouldn’t provide us with any additional financial aid, no matter what happened to our situation,” said Lee. 

General tuition fees paired with room and board make New York University one of the most costly universities in the world. A total of $93,194 a year is unfeasible for many accepted, and students express confusion as to why the tuition is so high, questioning NYU’s spending habits. 

Although NYU says they are focused on affordability, there was a 3.9% increase in tuition in 2016. Ivan Mikulencak, 18, said, “it doesn’t matter because their tuition was already so high.” 

Mikulencak, a freshman at New York University in the Liberal Studies Core program, feels saddened by NYU’s money allotments. During prospective student events, and ‘Welcome Week’, NYU spends billions of dollars on giveaways and activities, which Mikulencak described as “superfluous.” 

NYU’s Welcome Week Staff Photo in 2022 (@nyu_welcome on X)

“I would rather NYU have cut down their spending on welcome week because those events are fake and orchestrated. I would much rather have a reduced tuition,” said Mikulencak. 

For one program, NYU rented out the entire Brooklyn Museum for a night Mikulencak described as “mandatory and very mid.” At the beginning of the Fall 2023 semester, the University also rented out Manhattan’s Radio City Music Hall, an expense of at least $75,000 a day, to host student-led plays for the incoming Freshman. 

Although NYU has affiliations with museums, theaters, and other New York businesses that offer students discounted or free admission, many still feel the prices are too high, especially given NYU’s extravagant spending on events. 

Bruno Carlini-Mendonça, 19, expressed frustrations even with the discounts. “I have taken advantage of NYU's discounted prices for museum and theater tickets, but since I am interested in film, I try to go to a lot of movies, and the discount doesn’t make enough of a difference to make that affordable.”

Similarly to Mikulencak, Carlini-Mendonça was confused with the welcome week events. “I don’t understand why NYU is spending so much money on welcome week, events that students feel forced to go to, but not events that students actually want to attend, and can choose for themselves.” 

Other students, like Lee, feel frustrated about mandatory software within Tisch that they must pay for out-of-pocket. “Dramatic writing doesn’t get access to any software or anything. We paid for screenwriting software and only got a ten percent discount of $90. I know that other Tisch majors get Ableton and Adobe Premiere free as part of their tuition,” said Lee.

She also felt confused that museum trips and play screenings were paid for in the Liberal Studies Core, but not in Dramatic Writing—her major in the Tisch School of the Arts. “A lot of times the plays are not comped by NYU and we still have to pay for them,” said Lee. Because she is studying to become a playwright, she feels obligated to attend these events and is upset when she cannot go due to their high cost. 

Lee and her roommate Shreya Doreswamy, felt there were drastic differences between programs as well. “I feel like Tisch tries to cosplay starving artist energy,” said Lee, while Doreswamy said that any mandatory class trip was paid for by her program, the Liberal Studies Core. 

Doreswamy and Lee also felt upset about the 2023 dormitory overflow. 

Although NYU offers an option for low-income students to select reduced-cost housing, many students are not accepted into the more affordable residence halls, and some are scared to select that option out of fear that those halls will be inadequate.

Lee and Doreswamy were both placed in Palladium Hall, a typically upperclassmen dormitory, due to overflow. 

“Palladium sucks, and is so expensive,” said Doreswamy. While Lee attributed all of the building's problems to it being “old” and said that “the high cost is probably because of the amenities.” Doreswamy felt as though the high price did not reflect the space whatsoever. 

Lee indicated that she had not applied for low-cost dormitory housing because she had seen pictures, and felt some of the spaces were “unlivable” while others, like Founders Hall, were much nicer.

Founders Hall, which Lee described as having “twice as much space as Palladium,” costs an average of $8,250 per semester, while Palladium is $9,700 for the same room description.  

Doreswamy felt that it was incredibly unfair that “because of NYU’s mistake,” she had to pay more money for what she said was a worse dorm.

“Some people just can’t afford that,” said Lee.