Surprise! A Class of College Seniors Learns Their 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.

About a decade ago, the small, prestigious school in Manhattan faced a financial crisis. It began charging some students to attend, leading to student and alumni protests as well as a lawsuit. Amid the turmoil, New York’s attorney general — whose job is to oversee all nonprofit organizations in the state — opened an investigation, and then brokered a plan in 2018 to lead the school back to financial solvency. The goal was to bring back free tuition for undergraduates in a decade.

The move comes as other colleges and universities around the country are cutting programs and raising tuition as they face enrollment declines and other financial pressures. The Cooper Union wanted to chart a different way forward, putting all available resources toward scholarships and resisting spending on perks like smoothie bars or fancy gyms to attract students, the former president, Laura Sparks, who resigned this summer, said in an interview.

Though the plan calls for tuition to be free again for all undergraduates by 2028, a surprise $6 million gift this summer from three alumni donors allowed the timeline for seniors to be accelerated.

“It’s a reminder to everybody that there is another way to do this,” Ms. Sparks said, adding: “As a sector, we need to find more ways for more students to be able to afford a really excellent college education.”