The steady drumbeat of annual tuition hikes slowed in 2020 as colleges responded to the coronavirus pandemic and its devastating financial effects on American families. Looking ahead to 2021-2022 tuition rates, families can expect much of the same as colleges may take a similar approach by freezing tuition or applying only small increases.
Though tuition rose at a historically low rate in the 2020-2021 academic year, students at colleges across the country organized petitions and strikes calling for refunds when classes were moved online due to COVID-19, as well as significant cost reductions.
Willem Morris, a senior at Columbia University in New York, is one such student advocating for reduced tuition for the current spring 2021 semester, along with increased financial aid, and hoping a strike will lead to the long-term upending of what he says are “unfair and extortive” tuition practices. During this strike, students will refuse to pay their owed tuition until certain demands are met.
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