If you have been in First-Year Seminar or Transfer Seminar, you are likely to know of the Counseling Center — a center that has been offering psychological services since the 1970s to Baruch College’s students and faculty.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, many students may have wanted to utilize this resource to cope with the many stresses and emotional distresses that have evolved since the start of this global pandemic.

However, the Counseling Center cannot cater to those living out-of-state or internationally due to the restrictions and rules that they must abide by according to New York State law.

This principle is set into place in the case that the center cannot reach a student or if the student fails to show up for a scheduled video conference, the Center then has the ability to submit a Campus Intervention Team request or have New York City’s crisis response team connect with the student in question via NYC Well. This can’t be done for someone living outside of New York.

Nevertheless, this demographic of students who have had to relocate out of New York because of the pandemic is still paying $19,971 per year, as of 2020-2021, in tuition and fees as a full-time student just to be denied access to a resource that is intended for Baruch students and their mental health.

Understandably, the center has to abide by New York state law, but as a financial compromise, out-of-state students should not have to pay full tuition since they are barred from a resource that’s accessibly was guaranteed upon admission.