Dive Brief:
- Cooper Union alumni who sued to reinstate a free tuition provision at the New York City college have come to a settlement agreement that includes an independent monitor assigned by the New York attorney general.
- The New York Times reports the settlement includes the selection of an independent monitor to keep tabs on Cooper Union’s daily finances and long-term strategic planning, as well as the creation of a committee to research bringing back free tuition.
- The New York Attorney General’s Office, during the course of an investigation, found Cooper Union’s financial woes date back to a 2006 development plan for a new engineering building, for which the college took out a $175 million loan.
Dive Insight:
The 2006 loan was secured based on “optimistic assumptions,” according to the attorney general, that largely went up in smoke when $35 million invested in the stock market was lost during the 2008 crash. That catalyzed deficit spending and unmanageable loan payments. The president of the college and five trustees all resigned in June, in the middle of the attorney general’s investigation. The college’s new president has indicated a commitment to returning the more than 150-year-old college to its tuition-free beginnings.