GSOC leaders are confident that they will win even if the university goes to court. "[NYU] could do whatever it wants," Gasper said. "Eventually there's going to be a graduate student union at NYU."

In a statement posted on the university website, NYU spokesperson John Beckman said, "We are disappointed by the decision rendered today by the National Labor Relations Board with regard to the issue of unionization by graduate assistants. Today's decision overturns nearly a quarter-century of precedent with no changes in circumstances to justify it."

NYU officials have not said whether they will take the matter to court.

The ruling has unsettled many private universities because it removed the last significant legal obstacle to graduate student unionization at private universities. Yale University, for example, urged NYU to "carry the case to the federal courts if it has the opportunity," according to Associated Press reports.

Gasper said the ruling will have reverberations beyond NYU.

"Hopefully [the decision] will lead to more unionization around the country," he said.

According to Harvard Graduate Student Council (GSC) President Lisa L. Laskin, Harvard graduate students are treated comparatively well and have never sought to unionize.