SDSU students, faculty and staff trying to access the New York Times may find themselves asked to “Subscribe now for unlimited access,” following the discontinuation of the New York Times Academic Pass on Dec. 31.

The University Library has cancelled 16 other subscriptions in addition to the New York Times, with one more scheduled for April.

The New York Times Academic Pass allows universities across the country to provide full NYT online access to enrolled students, faculty and staff.

On Jan. 5, the University Library shared on its “Ask Us” page that the changes are due to budgetary pressure from inflation and in preparation for budgetary reductions to the university’s operating fund.

In 2025, the subscription cost the university library over $19,700.

Additionally, the university shared that “The SDSU Library decided to discontinue the New York Times Academic Pass subscription because the same academic content was already available through the library website.” 

This content can be accessed through different Library-provided interfaces and other databases.

The most up-to-date Times articles that the University Library provides can be found at Gale and through ProQuest Central. However, neither interface looks like or operates similarly to the New York Times website.

Additionally, the library plans to provide a link to The New York Times inEducation. At the time of publication, the provided link to create a free account “has not been configured for access.”

Arthur Santana, associate professor in the SDSU School of Journalism and Media Studies, requires the New York Times daily in some of his classes. 

He said that he was surprised when the New York Times subscription was “suddenly taken from us without really any kind of notification.”

“It’s important for me, for my class, to have access to this type of high-quality journalism. It’s part of the core part of the university’s educational mission, again, especially for students in our journalism program,” he said.

Although students can still access new articles through the University’s provided interfaces and datasets, Santana mentioned how student usability has been negatively impacted.

“It’s important to not say that the university has cut access because they’re going to say, ‘No, that’s not true.’ It’s available through the library catalog,” Santana said. “I just have a feeling students aren’t really using that. It’s not really how people access the news. They’ll do it that way if it’s assigned for class or something, but obviously, it’s not the same.” 

He said this might pose an issue for those who would rather turn to cheaper or more user-friendly outlets.

“Without those resources, students … are going to do what a lot of people do, which is they’re going to inevitably turn to their free sources,” Santana said. “And not all those sources often meet the basic standards of quality and accuracy and rigor. That’s unfortunate for our journalism students, and frankly for all students in the student body at large.

Santana said he hopes that there will be some lobbying to get the New York Times subscription back.

The Library does not provide any NYT-specific usage metrics.

Additionally, the third floor of Love Library still maintains a print subscription of the New York Times, which is available to view during open Library hours.

The Daily Aztec is continuing to monitor the situation and will update this story when more information is available.