What is Financial Aid?

The Cooper Union offers financial aid to eligible students to assist them in meeting their educational expenses.

We attempt to package financial aid to provide the greatest possible assistance to the neediest students first, and then to less needy students, as resources permit.

Generally, these awards are 'packaged', which means that more than one type of aid is provided. A typical award will include some grant funds and some self-help in the form of a loan and work opportunity. It is expected that the entire package will be accepted. A student is encouraged to use a portion of summer employment earnings toward the following academic year's expenses.

Normally, financial aid is awarded for an entire academic year, with payments made after the beginning of each semester Amounts in excess of Cooper Union charges may be used to meet indirect costs and will be paid directly to the student each semester.

Founded by inventor, industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper in 1859, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art offers education in art, architecture and engineering, as well as courses in the humanities and social sciences.
“My feelings, my desires, my hopes, embrace humanity throughout the world,” Peter Cooper proclaimed in a speech in 1853. He looked forward to a time when, “knowledge shall cover the earth as waters cover the great deep.”
From its beginnings, Cooper Union was a unique institution, dedicated to founder Peter Cooper's proposition that education is the key not only to personal prosperity but to civic virtue and harmony.
Peter Cooper wanted his graduates to acquire the technical mastery and entrepreneurial skills, enrich their intellects and spark their creativity, and develop a sense of social justice that would translate into action.