After a budget battle that raged throughout 2013, Cooper Union's board of trustees voted today to end the college's 155-year-old practice of allowing every student free tuition. "[T]uition remains the only realistic source of new revenue in the near future," wrote board chair Richard Lincer in a statement.

Two New York City colleges known for their vibrantly opinionated and expressive student bodies are trying to cut back on vibrant expressions of opinion by their student bodies, reports the New York Times.

A group of students calling themselves Free Cooper Union have just staged a sit-in in Cooper Union President Jamshed Bharucha's office to protest the school's controversial plan to end its 154-year-old tradition of free tuition in order to address a $16.5 million budget deficit.

Tuition-free arts school Cooper Union, whose new academic building peeks out of Cooper Square like a beautiful, serene spaceship, will most likely start charging students tuition to make up for a shortfall of about $12 million each year. The school began charging tuition for graduate students last year, a decision that was met with student protests, including a group of students who barricaded themselves inside of the iconic original Cooper Union building.

[President Barack Obama got a big wave as his motorcade pulled away from Cooper Union this afternoon where he talked about Wall Street but wasn't really near it. Image via CarolVinzant's Flickr]

The President will speak at Cooper Union today, where he plans to chastise Wall Street while spelling out the details of his proposed financial regulation bill. Fearful of looking worse than they already do, some Republicans are signing on. [NYT]