Surprise! A Class of College Seniors Learns Tuition Will Be Free.

The first day of the semester at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York on Tuesday came with a surprise for seniors that will make them the envy of college students everywhere. Their tuition for the year will be free. The announcement marks an unexpected milestone in the college’s effort to return to free tuition for all students, a model that had distinguished Cooper Union, a school for art, architecture and engineering, for nearly all of its 165-year history. The students learned of the gift just before 1 p.m. at their annual convocation. The school’s Great Hall, where Abraham Lincoln gave an address in 1860, erupted with cheers.