City University of New York

Agency Web Site: http://www2.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 eleven senior colleges, seven community colleges, and seven honors 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 2022 Executive Budget recommends $4.9 billion for CUNY and projects a workforce of 13,476 FTEs consistent with current workforce levels.

The FY 2022 funding level represents an overall $468 million decrease to appropriated levels from the prior year which reflects a $329 million decrease in capital authority largely due to the non-recurrence of one-time capital project appropriations that remain available through reappropriation, $112 million decrease to State Operations spending reflective of the elimination of excess appropriation authority associated with the shifting of CUNY support to and Enterprise Fund structure and $26 million in savings through a general operating support reduction to Senior Colleges. CUNY local assistance levels decreased by $27 million, largely associated with formula driven enrollment declines at community colleges and the general operating support reduction to Senior Colleges.

Building on the successes of programs that provide students with a path to an affordable quality college education, the Executive Budget proposes savings necessary to balance the budget in an equitable way that ensures all of New York’s aspiring students can go to college and achieve their dreams.

The Federal government’s failure so far to offset revenue losses caused by the pandemic has created significant fiscal challenges that leave the State with no choice but to reduce spending. To protect the core academic mission of colleges, the Budget targets these reductions on general support for institutions, holding harmless HESC student financial aid and higher education opportunity programs and providing flexibility for colleges to protect other essential student services.

Beginning in academic year 2021, the Budget reduces general operating support to SUNY and CUNY by 5 percent as part of the 5 percent reductions across local aid payments. The reductions will total $46 million for SUNY State-Operated campuses and $26 million for CUNY senior colleges. For community colleges, the reduction will total $35 million from Enacted Budget funding levels in FY 2021 and funding in FY 2022 will be based on the community college aid formula with no additional 5 percent reduction – an $11 million decrease from FY 2021 funding levels due to enrollment declines reflected in the aid formula.

These spending reductions are more than offset by $1.5 billion in direct federal aid provided to New York's colleges and universities in the Federal stimulus bill approved in December, and may be restored if the State receives requested Federal COVID relief funds.

In 2011, the Governor enacted a plan for predictable tuition increases for CUNY and SUNY, putting an end to surprise increases in students bills. The Budget extends this predictable funding plan for CUNY and SUNY that will continue to protect students from tuition spikes and provide our public colleges with additional resources to invest in college affordability and student success. This plan limits increases in the resident tuition rate at SUNY and CUNY to no more than $200 a year through AY 2025, and provides tuition flexibility that will allow doctoral-degree granting institutions to increase research capacity while protecting student affordability. The revenue generated from any tuition increase will be reinvested to support faculty, instruction, initiatives to improve student success and completion, and tuition credits for TAP-eligible students. The plan also allows SUNY and CUNY to establish lower tuition rates for high demand certificate programs, providing New York's public colleges flexibility needed to help rebuild the economy by offering more affordable education and training opportunities in every region of the State.

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 is the largest urban university system in the nation and offers a wide variety of educational avenues ranging from vocational courses to doctoral degree programs. Approximately 271,000 full- and part-time students are pursuing studies ranging from one-year certificate programs to doctorates.

Responding to the Pandemic

COVID-19 confronted New York’s public university systems with unprecedented challenges that threatened the progress in providing New Yorkers access to a college education. SUNY and CUNY rose to the challenge last spring, successfully transitioning all 84 campuses to remote learning providing approximately 685,000 students opportunity to continue their education uninterrupted. In the fall, CUNY remained mostly online and SUNY safely reopened its campuses to more than one third of its students, continuing to provide high-quality hybrid learning while closely monitoring student activity and aggressively responding to behaviors that endangered student learning and community spread.

To make sure students had the technology they needed to participate in distance learning, SUNY and CUNY purchased more than 40,000 laptops and tablets and made sure they were safely distributed to students in need. Additionally, the university systems extended their wireless networks and distributed Wi-Fi hotspot devices to ensure students can access the Internet for remote coursework.

Preserve Support for Students

The FY 2022 Executive Budget protects access to an affordable college education for New Yorkers in the face of economic challenges caused by the pandemic by preserving student financial aid and opportunity programs that serve our neediest students. The FY 2022 Executive Budget maintains full support for over $1 billion in HESC financial aid programs, including TAP and the Excelsior Scholarship, as well as over $200 million in funding for higher education opportunity programs and training centers. The Budget also includes legislation to hold harmless students who were unable to complete academic requirements needed to maintain financial aid eligibility because their enrollment was disrupted by coronavirus.

Educate and Train Workers for In-Demand Jobs

Responding to challenges presented by the pandemic, SUNY and CUNY also expanded their efforts to help New Yorkers find sustainable career paths and play an active part in the State’s economic recovery. SUNY recently launched an Online Training Center that offers free college preparation courses and certifications in high demand industries. The Training Center will enroll individuals without a post-secondary degree, who may be unemployed or recently laid off, into a college preparation or college program. CUNY established a partnership with CEOs of 27 of the largest employers in New York, including JPMorgan Chase, Amazon and Microsoft, that will create a pipeline to job opportunities for 25,000 students with a focus on low-income and Black, Latinx and Asian communities; and launched a Federal Work-Study website, which will allow companies and organizations to hire thousands of students for paid internships.

Note: Most recent estimates as of 01/19/2021