EAST VILLAGE — Students who camped out in Cooper Union's president's office for more than two months to protest new tuition fees ended their round-the-clock demonstration on Friday.
The school's occupiers, Students for a Free Cooper Union, and the administration announced that they had reached a deal to seek an alternative to charging incoming students $20,000 per year for the formerly free school.
A working group made up of members of the school's board and faculty, former and current students and representatives of the administration will meet to try to find a solution, according to the joint statement.
Students will also gain representation on the school's board, which was one of the major demands of the student protesters in their 65-day occupation.
After months of debate and protests from students, alumni and faculty, the school announced in April that incoming students would have to begin paying $20,000 in tuition this September.
In May, students began their sit-in protest at Cooper Union President Jamshed Bharucha's office in the school's Foundation Building near Astor Place, demanding that he resign.
Cooper Union — named after founder and industrialist Peter Cooper — was established in 1859 as a school for low-income students, offering broader access to higher education. The school, which has been free for all attendees since 1902, has programs in architecture, engineering and the arts.