What does our tuition fund? It is a reasonable question to ask when studying at a university that costs $92,844 to attend and whose financial aid policy leaves much to be desired. It is a question I kept returning to during my first semester as I discovered dozens of more hidden fees that I expected this outrageous cost to cover.
Cornell has an operating budget with revenues of over $6 billion and a $11.8 billion endowment. A quick analysis of where the University chooses and refuses to spend its billions demonstrates how the well-being of its students and the Ithacan community are not where Cornell’s priorities lie.
Everywhere I turned my first semester, I was greeted by surprise expenses — some avoidable and some not. Laundry costs, printing, gym memberships, the absolute scam that is CAMP and club dues (because the activities section in our tuition isn't enough) all added on extra costs. Turns out, Cornell’s tuition is ‘batteries not included.’
Going home over break, I was jealously enraged to learn that my friend who attends Johns Hopkins University gets free laundry, gym memberships and quality merchandise. As a larger school, Cornell gets more money in tuition — if the University’s administration really cared for our mental and physical health, these things would be readily available to the student population.
Thus, Cornell acts more like a for-profit institution than a university. Everywhere else there exists a scheme designed to wring the greatest amount of money out of the student body.
While Cornell claims that through its generous financial aid, “the cost of a Cornell education may be less than you would expect,” university policies have not supported this claim. An antitrust lawsuit filed against Cornell four years ago, and now proceeding to trial, accuses the University and 16 other elite colleges of colluding to reduce financial aid.
The cost of tuition and fees has also risen faster than inflation and financial aid, meaning Cornell is asking for more money that is not contributing to adjust for inflation or increase affordability.
While in an ideal world all higher education would be free, greatly increasing financial aid would be life changing for millions of families. Recently, Yale announced that it would offer free tuition to families with incomes below $200,000, qualifying over 80% of Americans. The cost to enact similar policies would be a small dent in Cornell’s budget but for thousands of prospective students would be the difference between being able to attend or even consider applying.
Another example demonstrating Cornell reluctance to fund student services can be observed in its recent negotiations with TCAT — the transit system that thousands of Cornell students and faculty rely on to get around campus. In October 2025, TCAT officials asked each of its three contributors for an additional $500,000 funding increase. The money would address TCAT’s budget shortage and avoid service cuts. While Tompkins County and the City of Ithaca both agreed to pay the $500,000, Cornell — the University with an acting budget of billions — offered an insultingly low $31,000.
Students on campus, inducing Cornell’s Young Democratic Socialists of American chapter, voiced their outrage through an email and calling campaign, urging Provost Kavita Bala and Community Relations Manager Jennifer Tavares to agree to TCAT’s funding request. After a series of negotiations, Cornell agreed to increase its financial contribution to $280,000 and TCAT accepted.
Cornell’s refusal to fund TCAT demonstrates that the University’s priorities do not lie in public services, the environment or student convenience. Over 70% of TCAT ridership is affiliated with Cornell, yet the University was the most unwilling of the three underwriters toward increasing funding.
More broadly for the Ithaca community, Cornell currently contributes only $4 million in voluntary contributions to Ithaca, far less than the $35 million a year that the University would pay if it wasn’t tax exempt.
Once again, Cornell falls behind other Ivy League institutions in productive monetary contributions. Through the PILOT program, Yale has pledged $135.4 million to the City of New Haven, Connecticut over the course of six years. In 2021, Princeton University paid $9.8 million in taxes to Princeton, New Jersey, including $6.2 million in voluntary payments.
With a recent $371.5 million gift donation from tech billionaire David Duffield, including $50 million for general academic pursuits, Cornell’s cry of an empty purse when negotiating with the City of Ithaca or providing student amenities seems even more outrageous.
While Cornell's coffers are empty when it comes to supporting its students or neighbors down the hill, when the federal government initiates a campaign to abuse higher education, the University is suddenly able to conjure $30 millions dollars in capitulation money. It is clear that the Administration’s commitment lies not with the community but with surrendering to an increasingly fascist government.
For decades, local activism has pushed to ensure a fairer partnership between Cornell and Ithaca. In 2023, Ithaca’s chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America launched a Make Cornell Pay Coalition centered on advocating for Cornell to provide increased funding to the City of Ithaca and a fare-free TCAT model.
As a student body, we can also do our part to ‘Make Cornell Pay.’ If Cornell is going to keep treating our education as a financial transaction, then we should hold the University accountable to ensure that we are getting our money’s worth. We can call and email admin, demanding free TCAT, laundry, printing, gyms, textbooks and more club funding. We can make them listen because after all, we students are also entitled with the rights to be endowed.
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Mina Petrova '29 is a Freshman in the College of Arts & Sciences studying English, History, and Government. Her fortnightly column ‘North Star’ studies the past and critiques the present, focusing on politics, protests and activism that strive toward a more equitable future. She can be reached at mpetrova@cornellsun.com.
