This NYU Admin Just Accidentally Revealed the Problem with America's Private Universities

Nia Mirza, an international student from Pakistan, organized a petition earlier this year demanding NYU lower the cost of attendance after the annual price tag of attending the school suddenly rose from $64,000 to $71,000.

"I have a scholarship from NYU but that is nowhere close to what I can afford," Mirza wrote. "Personally, this increase has scared me more than having affected my ability to pay (because, even before the increase, I had already exhausted my resources and was seeking loans and human capital investors as my resources weren't sufficient) – I am scared in terms of what to expect from NYU in future if I even get a loan and attend it."

"I may not be able to afford sudden increases in tuition and fees in upcoming years because I will not have unlimited money," she continued.

More generally, minorities and the poor continue to bear disproportionate amounts of student debt, progressive think-tank Demos found in May. The price of an education in the U.S. is rising at rates well above inflation.