Cooper Union, which until this year was free for undergraduates, said that it had fewer applicants, but had admitted a higher percentage of them. CreditMichael Nagle for The New York Times

The results are in for the first big test of Cooper Union’s new era — the era in which students actually pay to attend — and the university appears to have scored about 80 percent.

The school, which announced last April that it would charge undergraduate students tuition for the first time, released figures on Friday that showed overall applications were down this year by just over 20 percent. Of the 2,537 who sought a spot in this year’s incoming freshman class, the first to be charged tuition, the admissions department accepted a higher percentage than in previous years, on the assumption that fewer of them would choose to enroll. (All 61 of the students offered early admission have accepted.)

Over a century, Cooper Union in the East Village, revered for being “free as air and water,” became one of the most selective in the country, attracting top students in art, architecture and engineering. It received 13 applications for every student it accepted, and those lucky few who were chosen enrolled at an exceptionally high rate....Continue Reading

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