Highlighted Issues:

Debt of The School- We as a whole do not know what happened with our school to get into as much debt as it did several years ago. However, they are no longer in debt now and within the last 4 years tuition and other fees has jumped to nearly 10,000 more dollars than it used to be. There has been very little change that we see, for those of us who have been here. For those of us who have just entered, we come in with prejudged notions of what college is about. Only quickly realizing after 1 semester how limited we are for what we pay. The question is, are we responsible for the schools debt?

Tuition & Room and Board- If you are a fulltime student and you live on campus; here is what you pay and how it breaks down per room:

Single room: 45,720

Double Room: 44,240

Triple/Quad: 43,840

Commuter Students: 30,970

When students opt to transfer out of this school it is always a fight, but for some they end up staying because the school offers a deal to keep them here. That is not fair for those who work hard to pay our money to get a quality education.

Alumni- Most who have graduated from here, feel scammed of how much they paid. They are able to get a job, but not a career because they are competing with other candidates that may be more reputable given the brand of education they have received. We pay for a reputation, a style and connections; very seldom do you receive that at Newbury. For those who are successful most often utilize their own resources to leverage them instead of the degree and it's college's connections.

Student Body- We as students are all diverse, but we face the same reason why we came to Newbury: It was our last resorts. There is no pride in ourselves on where we go to College. We should feel proud, a sense of worth and gratitude from our school. We shall not feel embarrassed to share with new people we meet, from other schools on where we go.

Limit of Resources- We are in College, in this day in age our primary source is the internet, yet there have been countless times that the internet both on the main campus and dorms that the internet was down, yet we were still expected to complete our work. Constantly having to worry if our assignments are going to be in on time makes many students lack motivation in continuing to do their work.

Dining Services- For starters, the hours that the cafe is open are so limited that many people do not eat as many times as they should through out the day. Closing at 730 during the week and 6 during the weekend forcing us to eat early leaving many students hungry by the time they get back to their dorm. We all have different schedules and instead of accommodating more students, the cafe accommodates themselves for monetary reasons. In addition, there is not much variety in the food we are served week to week which leads to the majority of students eating a sandwich everyday for both lunch and dinner.

Acceptance of Students- Newbury accepts more and more students each year. This may seem like a good thing, but they brand themselves this way in order to get students in so that they can have the tuition money. Allowing students in who have little to no desire to even go to college can make it difficult for those who actually want to learn to do so. It is frustrating to sit in a class room with those who do not want to be there and are simply there as a distraction. We are paying at a private school level yet our school is more like a community college, allowing anyone in who can afford it.

Faculty Members- If we as students feel as though coming here was our last resort than what does it say about the staff. There are some students here who simply through their life experiences, are more knowledgeable than some professors.some professors simply teach from a text book with little passion behind it. Anyone can teach from a book, but a college professor should have experienced at least a portion of what they are teaching. Also, this school is very diverse, yet some professors do not shape their curriculum to reach diverse students. If a student does raise a concern then the professors take it as an insult and begin to play favorites instead of acknowledging the valid concerns and make the necessary changes to better help all students. They make college about how well we get along with their personality instead of how we relate to their material which is often inadequate.

Advisors- 4 years is not only a long time to be in school but it is also very expensive, yet numerous students have had to come back for extra semesters due to misguidance by their advisors. It can be looked at as a simple mistake, yet it occurs so frequently that it now seems that it is a plot to get more money out of the student. Not only does the student have to pay for the current classes they are in, but then have to worry about paying even more money for extra courses that could have and should have already been completed within the 4 years.

Administration- The administration walks around campus with a posh, pompous attitude that makes them seems unapproachable by many students. If a student does come to them with a concern, instead of taking it seriously and working with the student to meet their needs, they often lack the answers. The administration is unorganized with meeting students’ needs in regards to their financials, etc. which causes mistrust between the students and the administration. The administration is not transparent with the mission of this school and where it’s going and the finances that the student body pays to upkeep. They have public year to year records in the library but we don’t really know if it is accurate to what is really going on with finances.

Financial Aid & Student Accounts- There have been countless students who have had to postpone starting their classes because of issues with financial aid. They are not notified about these issues until weeks before classes begin yet I’m sure the school knew about the issue much earlier. This causes students to feel as though they cannot trust the financials regarding what we pay as a whole and where our money is actually being spent.

Graduation Rate- Graduation rate is only 40%, which would be much lower if credits actually transferred over to other colleges (they transfer to some). Those who do chose to transfer are left having to stay in school much longer causing them to spend even more money. Students feel no pride in being here which is why so many people transfer. Even those who do make it to their senior year question whether they want to continue and get their degree from here.

Careers After College- For potential career placement companies, geared towards most major's, Other than the two we are slightly known for at Newbury, they are reluctant in partnering up at our Career fair as well as hiring Newbury College students (depending on the organization) Most of us do not know why that is, However as I stated before those that get good careers, utilized their own resources. There is not a lot of help when it comes to career placement, when there are those who are successful on their own, Newbury will contact them in hopes to utilize them for their own benefit. They need to evolve!

Internship Placement- When they provide their annual internship fair, there are mainly placements for culinary and hospitality majors. Even then the internships provided are basically jobs where people work for free for a certain amount of credit hours.

Curriculum- In comparison to other schools in Boston around the same $ bracket we pay, we are 3 to even 4 semesters behind them. You often find those students who are smart that need more of a challenge, stay in the safe zone and settle for Newbury even though their potential is greater than what they are receiving in terms of quality education. You can tell they are afraid of a challenge; there are also those students who are not challenged enough so they lack motivation to push forward and complete the workload. Waste of time is one reason and if you are in sophomore or junior, it is hard transferring because some credits will not transfer so you become stuck or making up a couple years. Newbury College is a nonprofit and private college, when they do their fundraising, for the culinary and hospitality students they take from their cooking curriculum to fundraise for the college, so most of the time the students are not able to cover everything on the syllabus for their academic semester.

Activities- There is no real activities at Newbury, throughout the week and weekends, the students themselves find a unique ways to keep entertained. However the few activities that the College comes up with are more so their idea on what they think should entertain us. They should make it more about the students experience not accommodating theirs. We feel as though the College as a whole does things on what they feel college is supposed to be about.

Clubs & Groups- In college, students should be able to develop different groups, share ideas and be part of the decision making process to make our community better. The Ideas that some of the students come up with are often no more than that. We hear more no's than yes, when we see how much more other college's/universities have we envy them. If you ask most students here if they feel as though this is a real college to them given all issues raised in this petition you would not be surprised about the answer.

Excuses told to the student on why thing are not changing:

When we raise the concerns, faculty and administration give us the loop around.

They ask/tell us things like:

- Why didn't we transfer?

-Didn't you know how the school was when you applied?

-We didn't keep you hostage. (But then it contradicts what they are saying because they get mad when people transfer.)

-If you are unhappy than leave.

To hear answers such as these shows they do not care, we came here because they false advertised it as a cheaper school when in all actuality it is not, they do not live up to what they sell to you on their website:

www.newbury.edu

Where is our money going? Show us the financials; for those that helped bail the college out of debt we deserve a partial refund.

We as a whole who are associated with this College have the rights to know what the future plans of making this College a better place; we shall be able to partake in the decision making process as well.

Newbury College truly shows us how the whole education system is just a way to get our money. They make you believe you need a degree and in this day in age you do not, it is experience that is more so valued. The reputable degrees from other colleges are starting to not have merit. What does that say for people like us who attends a place like Newbury? We pay nearly the same amount of money as these other reputable schools.

I do not know how other students feel about their schools but that is how most within feel about ours. If you agree with any of this, support us by signing the petition and helping us make our College a better place.