Students on Strike From public institutions like the University of Iowa and the University of Massachusetts Boston, to private ones like the University of Chicago and Rice University, students across the country are coalescing around a novel idea: a tuition strike. The massive mismanagement of the coronavirus pandemic has forced college students to question the cost of their education, as schools that charge tens of thousands of dollars in tuition per year transition to online instruction. âIf Iâm fighting for other people, I really am fighting for myself.â âStudents are really angry at the way that weâre being treated right now,â says Dulce Escorcia, a senior at the University of Iowa and a member of Iowa Student Action. âWe were already being taken advantage of by rising tuition costs.â And now, thereâs the pandemic, which forced students back into classrooms or into spaces where COVID-19 protocols arenât followed. âIt all comes together into all the energy thatâs buzzing around campuses right now.â