More college students looking for a bargain in this tough economy are transferring to the City University of New York, new figures show.
Transfers to CUNY campuses are up 20 percent, to 10,132, for next fall’s semester over a year ago, university officials said.
“Ultimately, it was a better deal to go to Queens College than to SUNY Buffalo,” said student Robert Rogala, of Levittown, LI.
For one thing, he said, commuting from home instead of paying full tuition plus room and board will cut costs by more than half.
Tuition is $3,300 at CUNY’s community colleges and $4,830 at its four-year schools. It’s $5,270 at SUNY Buffalo — but the annual cost there balloons to $17,878 with room and board and other incidentals. And at private colleges, the costs are even higher.
Rogala also figures it will be easier to get a part-time job in New York City than in Buffalo.
“It was a practical decision,” he said. “The cost was definitely a big factor. It’s much, much cheaper, and I’d much rather deal with a smaller debt than a bigger one when I graduate — any way I can cut corners in this economy.”
Plus, he liked that he could switch from majoring in political science to double-majoring in Latin American studies and Spanish.
“I’m very happy with the academic program [at Queens],” he said. “There were more options for me.”
Meanwhile, transfers to CUNY’s six community colleges are up a whopping 74 percent, officials said. Overall, CUNY has accepted more than 90,000 applicants to its 23 schools, with freshmen admissions up about 3 percent from a year ago, the data show.
“With regard to the admissions increases, it’s simple,” said CUNY spokesman Michael Arena. “Students and their families see more bang for their academic buck.”
The biggest CUNY jumps in general admissions are at New York City Tech, in Downtown Brooklyn, and the College of Staten Island, each reporting 20 percent increases.
Officials say CUNY is also attracting more “high-achieving” high-school grads — a continuing trend since the university tightened standards by dumping open enrollment and remedial classes in its four-year colleges a decade ago.