University of Chicago Students Launch Tuition Strike Over Coronavirus

University of Chicago Students Launch Tuition Strike Over Coronavirus

This situation has been brewing for a couple of weeks, and now even the mainstream media has picked up the story.

NBC News reports:

University of Chicago students hold tuition strike, demand help during pandemic

A group of students at The University of Chicago are holding a tuition strike as they demand that the elite private university cut tuition costs by 50 percent and waive fees for the duration of the coronavirus pandemic, according to organizers.

UChicago for Fair Tuition launched a petition in April calling on the university to help students and families facing financial hardship due to economic fallout from the spread of the virus.

“As the coronavirus pandemic continues, it will create an increasingly disparate impact on low-income students, students with disabilities, students of color, queer students, students with children, and more,” the petition reads.

Undergraduate tuition for the 2019-20 school year is $57,642, while on-campus room and board costs roughly $17,004, and fees are $3,456, for a total of over $78,000, according to figures on the university’s website.

Almost 1,900 students have signed the petition. And roughly 200 have refused to pay their spring quarter tuition bills, which were due on Wednesday, organizers of the movement told the Chicago Sun-Times.

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