As college students, we face an innumerable amount of financial challenges. Having to worry about monthly rent, utilities, groceries, the cost of books and other school supplies is a lot to manage. Most college students also have to use the subway several times a week to go to class – but yet, there is currently no program at The New School granting students discounted MetroCards. Providing student with reduced-rate MetroCards would definitely lift a significant weight off many students’ shoulders.
Many colleges, like the University of California, Los Angeles, and the Rhode Island School of Design, offer discounted transit passes to their students. Having to allocate $112 for a monthly pass takes a toll on the already minimal cash flow of the average college student in the city.
“If there were more solidified transportation services or discounted MetroCards offered at The New School, I would be able to afford more art supplies for my work,” commuter and Parsons student Shireen Ahmed says.
Such a measure would open up a whole new window of creative opportunity for students. It’s essential for students who pay high tuition and university fees to be able to reap some rewards and amenities that will help them throughout their academic journey.
When I asked Sam Biederman, the associate director of university communications, why The New School doesn’t offer any kind of student discounted MetroCards, he said “The New School has in the past few years, and coming years taken steps to bring all students together.” With Parsons moving downtown this year, Mannes relocating in 2015, and the Williams Street dorms sold, The New School is in the midst of creating a traditional-style campus within the Greenwich Village locale with the new University Center as its focal point.
The New School is scattered throughout the city and comprised of many schools with several different locations. For example, The Mannes College of Music is currently located uptown on West 85th Street. Students have to take the subway at least twice a day to get to and from the school, whether they are coming from student dorms, Brooklyn, the East Village, or commuting from New Jersey or Long Island. The New School pales in comparison to New York University, which offers a free bus service to all of their students, faculty, and alumni throughout the Washington Sq. campus to many other locations within the city.
The New School does however offer a 25% discount on monthly New Jersey transit passes for full-time undergraduate and graduate degree students via The New School-NJ Transit Partnership.
It’s safe to say that as students in the city, with a spread-out campus and constant class outings to different events and exhibitions, we use our MetroCards quite a lot. College student MetroCards, or a form of transportation service within the city, would appeal to both students and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Students would get a financial break and it would promote the use of public transit, which is good for New York City and its economy. More commuters would help support the city’s economy and overall sustainability. College is an expensive experience, so every little thing helps.
Sienna is currently a Literary Studies major at Lang with a minor in Culture & Media. She enjoys music writing, cultural features, creative non fiction and poetry. She has future plans of working in publications, making electronic music in her spare time and living a funky fresh lifestyle.
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Saying that they’re trying to make amends by bringing everybody downtown is a sorry answer. There’s a plethora of reasons for doing what they do but this will never be one of them. The amount of food and alcohol at basic events that a tiny portion of the school can attend is somewhat staggering; I can’t imagine that affording students some sort of transportation discount would be unreasonable in light of that.