The Bloomberg School of Public Health (BSPH) will no longer be holding in-person classes for the fourth term, however the cost of tuition ($13,944) will not be changed. As students of BSPH, we request a reduction in the cost of enrollment for the fourth quarter (March 23rd-May 15th), as we transition into an online format. We have come to this conclusion due to the substantial difference in academic rigor and outcomes that we’ve experienced through previous online classes. 

The online experience is fundamentally different from an in-person education.The transition to Zoom-oriented learning may be necessary, but it leaves students without many of the reasons and value-adds that attracted them to the in-person programs at JHSPH they signed up for. Many of us have taken out extraordinary loans to cover the costs of university attendance and moved around the globe to be in Baltimore, and a decrease in what the university is able to offer us at this time without a reduction in the cost represents an issue of economic injustice. Our student experience without physical classrooms, office hours, collaborating in class, labs, student-led events, lunch seminars, research assistantships, and the overall exposure is not what we expected as on-campus BSPH students. Many courses are not conducive to an online format, so much so that some professors are cancelling classes because of this transition. While we do not disagree with the administration’s decision to move BSPH to an online format in light of the COVID-19 situation, it is not acceptable to expect students to bear the same financial burden for a definitively different experience than what we signed up for.

Students are facing losses to gainful employment both in and outside of school, heightened costs associated with food, utilities, and medicine, and regardless have been billed the full normal cost of JHSPH attendance despite moving to a fully online format while concurrently being offered a lesser educational experience by the University. As part of its’ current strategic plan, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has made the commitment to “ensure that financial needs of all of our students are met.” To realize this commitment, we believe that it is the responsibility of the University to reduce tuition charges. Already the world leader in public health education since 1994, the University now also has the opportunity to set an example for how students should be treated by placing emphasis on economic justice for students who bring a diverse set of skills to the University.

Moving to an online format is disappointing but necessary in this pandemic. We propose to negotiate with Dean MacKenzie as to what the appropriate price should be, but we know it should not be $13,944 for eight weeks of online classes. 

If you are a student who agrees with the above statement, please sign this petition and comment below on why you disagree with paying the same amount for in-person classes as the new online format.