The COVID-19 pandemic has been an unmitigated blow to the entire world and the US, but nobody has felt its impact more acutely than today’s college students. With us preparing to enter the most challenging jobs market in history amid life-threatening risks to our and our families’ wellbeing, we look to Wagner College as a source of support and comfort.

But, despite additional government funding awarded to support reopening and a new curriculum heavily dependent on “virtual learning” online rather than in person, our college is soaking students and families in HIGHER tuition costs and fees. Not only are students not receiving any serious financial support in these difficult circumstance or a discount to account for lower operating costs and the inarguably lower quality of “online education,” we face entirely insensitive price gouging. Ask any pre-med student if the quality of their online science lab is equivalent in value to an in-person one, and find a single one who can say “yes” with a straight face.

Take a second to sign and remind Wagner that right now is a time to prioritize students’ physical and financial well-being, not build on a nearly $100 million endowment at times of a national health crisis by billing students full cost tuition and additional fees.