City University of New York

Agency Web Site: http://www.cuny.edu/

Mission

The City University of New York (CUNY) has its origins in the Free Academy, established in 1847 under the auspices of the New York City Board of Education, and today is the nation’s largest urban public university system. The University’s mission is to provide affordable higher education with a focus on the urban community of New York City.

Organization and Staffing

CUNY is governed by a 17 member Board of Trustees consisting of 10 members appointed by the Governor, five members appointed by the Mayor, the chair of the Student Senate, and the chair of the Faculty Senate, who both act as ex-officio members. Aside from the Board, CUNY’s leadership structure also consists of a Chancellor, individual college presidents, and centralized staff. The City University includes 11 senior colleges, seven community colleges, the Macaulay Honors College, and five graduate and professional schools; all of which are located throughout the city’s five boroughs, employing thousands of academic, administrative, and facility personnel.

Budget Highlights

The FY 2018 Executive Budget recommends $4.8 billion for CUNY and projects a workforce of 13,549 FTE's consistent with FY 2017 levels.

The FY 2018 funding level represents a $542 million net increase from the previous year. This reflects $253 million in additional appropriation authority attributable to retroactive collective bargaining expenses, and an additional $35 million in revenue from CUNY foundations to support tuition assistance initiatives for students in need. Other spending increases include new capital support, tuition revenue, and employee fringe benefit costs.

The Executive Budget includes a new Excelsior Scholarship Program, a first in the nation tuition-free degree program that will enable students to attend tuition-free for working and middle-class families making up to $125,000 annually. To qualify for an Excelsior Scholarship, students must be a resident of New York and be on track to complete their chosen degree in two or four years. Funding for the award fully covers the cost of tuition after the Tuition Assistance Program, Pell and other financial aid awards are applied.

The Budget continues New York’s long history of providing students with an affordable higher education by limiting tuition increases to a rational and predictable level. Already well below the national average and 38 other states, the Executive Budget limits the resident tuition rate at SUNY and CUNY to increase by no more than $250 a year over the next five years. In addition, the Budget includes $55 million for a new round of NYCUNY 2020 capital challenge grants.

The Budget maintains base operating aid for CUNY community colleges at $2,697 per full time equivalent student.

For more information on this agency's budget recommendations located in the Executive Budget Briefing Book, click on the following link:

Briefing Book – Higher Education (PDF)

Program Highlights

The City University of New York offers a wide variety of educational avenues ranging from vocational courses to doctoral degree programs. Approximately 403,000 full time and part time students were enrolled in degree granting programs in 2015, not including the more than 200,000 continuing and professional educational students. In order to help students obtain an affordable education and complete their degree on-time, CUNY is working to expand its high impact programs across the system with a goal of doubling graduation rates for associate degree programs, and raising by 10 percentage points the graduation rates in bachelor programs by 2022. A sampling of CUNY programs include the following:

Accelerate, Complete, & Engage (ACE) Program

ACE is a comprehensive program designed to help students complete their bachelor’s degree within four years. The program is based on the principles of the CUNY Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) model.

Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP)

CUNY’s Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) assists students in earning associate degrees by providing a range of financial, academic, and personal supports, including comprehensive and personalized advisement, career counseling, tutoring, waivers for tuition and mandatory fees, MTA MetroCards, and additional financial assistance to defray the cost of textbooks.

CUNY START

CUNY Start provides intensive preparation in academic reading/writing, pre-college math, and “college success” advisement for students entering CUNY with significant remedial needs, based on the results of their CUNY Assessment Tests. The goal of the program is to help students prepare for college-level coursework and reduce or eliminate any remedial needs prior to starting credit-bearing courses.

The above programs have shown promise in helping students graduate on-time and with as little debt as possible. With the addition of the Excelsior Scholarship Program, not only will more students be able to realize the dream of going to college, but will also be provided the tools to succeed in their path to a degree.

Note: Most recent estimates as of 1/17/2017