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| Motto | Latin:Eruditio populi liberi spes gentium |
|---|---|
Motto in English | The education of free people is the hope of Mankind[1] |
| Type | Publicuniversity system |
| Established | 1961; 64 years ago (1961)[2] |
| Budget | $3.6 billion[3] |
| Chancellor | Félix V. Matos Rodríguez[4] |
| Provost | Wendy Hensel |
Academic staff | 19,568[5] |
Administrative staff | 33,099[5] |
| Students | 243,000[6] |
| Location | New York City, U.S. |
| Campus | 25 campuses[7] |
| Website | cuny |
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TheCity University of New York (CUNY, pronounced/ˈkjuː.ni/,KYOO-nee) is thepublicuniversity system ofNew York City, United States. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 26campuses: elevensenior colleges, sevencommunity colleges, and eight professional institutions. The university enrolls more than 275,000 students. CUNY alumni include thirteenNobel Prize winners and twenty-fourMacArthur Fellows.
The oldest constituent college of CUNY,City College of New York, was originally founded in 1847 and became the first free public institution of higher learning in the United States.[8] In 1960,John R. Everett became the first chancellor of the Municipal College System of New York City, later known as the City University of New York (CUNY). CUNY, established byNew York state legislation in 1961 and signed into law by GovernorNelson Rockefeller, was an amalgamation of existing institutions and a newgraduate school.
The system was governed by the Board of Higher Education of the City of New York, created in 1926, and later renamed the Board of Trustees of CUNY in 1979. The institutions merged into CUNY included the Free Academy (laterCity College of New York), the Female Normal and High School (laterHunter College),Brooklyn College, andQueens College. CUNY has historically provided accessible education, especially to those excluded or unable to affordprivate universities. The firstcommunity college in New York City was established in 1955 with shared funding between the state and the city, but unlike the senior colleges, community college students had to pay tuition.
The integration of CUNY's colleges into a single university system took place in 1961, under a chancellor and with state funding. TheGraduate Center, serving as the principaldoctorate-granting institution, was also established that year. In 1964, MayorRobert F. Wagner Jr. extended the senior colleges' free tuition policy to community colleges. The 1960s saw student protests demanding moreracial diversity and academic representation in CUNY, leading to the establishment ofMedgar Evers College and the implementation of theOpen Admissions policy in 1970. This policy dramatically increased student diversity but also introduced challenges like lowretention rates. The1976 fiscal crisis ended thefree tuition policy, leading to the introduction of tuition fees for all CUNY colleges.
Historians Willis Rudy and Harry Noble Wright identify "thegrowing democratization of American life," rapid urban development and increased immigration as the socio-cultural trends leading to the founding of theFree Academy. They note that "the birth of the Free Academy in the metropolis of the New World came at the very time thatEuropean revolutionists were struggling for freedom and democracy in the Old."[9] In the mid-19th century, free elementary and high schools sprouted up all across the country in an educational renaissance borne of organized labor, the expansion of suffrage, and industrialization. New York City, a booming metropolis and predominant seaport in the Western hemisphere, was uniquely situated to forge ambitious educational initiatives. The first free denominational schools were established on Manhattan Island in 1633; a system of secular schools was established in 1805. From 1825 to 1860, New York City's population rose from 166,000 residents to 814,000, making it the third largest city in the Western world. A number of newcomers weremercantilists fromNew England drawn to the advantages of New York's harbor, while "in the decades prior to the Civil War the farms of Ireland and the villages of Germany were the chief sources of New York's newcomers."[10] The shifting demographics of the city spurred new debates over the creation of public higher education.
On March 15, 1847,Townsend Harris, then president of the city's Board of Education, published a letter inThe Morning Courier andNew York Enquirer that proposed a free public school where the children of the poor would have the possibility of advancement:
No, Sirs, the system now pursued by that excellent society and by our ward schools is the true one, and may be advantageously applied to higher seminaries of learning. Make them the property of the people - open the doors to all - let the children of the rich and the poor take their seats together and know of no distinction save that of industry, good conduct, and intellect. A large number of the children of the rich now attend our public schools, and the ratio is rapidly increasing.[11]
This establishment of the Free Academy hailed "first municipal institution for free higher education to appear on this globe."[9] This was not without debate, discussed in the newspapers of the day. Two of Harris's supporters,James Gordon Bennett of theNew York Herald, andWilliam Cullen Bryant of theEvening Post, supported the idea in their editorial pages.Horace Greeley, founder and editor of the publication theNew-York Tribune and later a member of the Board of Education opposed the use of public funds for the school, although he supported its overall mission. Well into its existence, Greeley would continue to call for the closing of the Free Academy and that it "should be sloughed off in the interests of retrenchment."[12] The argument made by Harris and his supporters in response was that money drawn from what was calledThe Literature Fund, a state budget for public education, "ought to be apportioned on the principle of the greatest good to [the] greatest number."[13] They believed this would be best accomplished by the Free Academy.
The Free Academy received its charter from theNew York State Legislature on May 7, 1847. Construction of The Free Academy began in November 1847. Harris was succeeded as President of the Board of Education by Robert Kelley in 1848. Dr.Horace Webster, a graduate of the United States Military Academy and professor of mathematics was chosen by Kelly and his committee as the school's first principal. At the formal opening on January 21, 1849, Webster outlined the intention of the academy:
The experiment is to be tried, whether the children of the people, the children of the whole people, can be educated; and whether an institution of the highest grade, can be successfully controlled by the popular will, not by the privileged few.[14]
The Free Academy was renamed the College of the City of New York in the immediate aftermath of the Civil War, at the behest of students who felt that the name "Academy" did not carry the same prestige in the real world as the word "College."[15] There was an acceleration of campus activity in the years following the war, especially in the realm of student organizing and government.Richard Rodgers Bowker published the first issue ofThe City College Collegian in November 1866.[16] The paper only ran for one year, but in that time played an instrumental role in calling for the formation of the first student-ledacademic senate in the nation.
The next school to be established was theNormal College, later Hunter College.Normal schools, or institutions for teacher education, were first established in New York in 1834, with schools for white men, white women, and women of color. There were inequities; the women's schools were only open on Saturdays and there was a lack of attention to teaching skills with the female curriculum limited to mathematics.[17] The first state normal school for teacher instruction was established in Albany, New York on May 7, 1844, now theUniversity of Albany. This was followed by the establishment of a number of other normal schools. In 1851, the state legislature sought to "amend, consolidate, and reduce to one act, the various acts relative to the Common Schools of the city of New York," and formalized a board of education for the city with the mission of continuing to "furnish through the free academy, the benefit of education, gratuitously, to persons who have been pupils in the common schools of the said city and county, for a period of time to be regulated by the board of education not less than one year."[18] This included a mandate for the formation of new schools, includingevening schools. The call for the establishment of a normal school for women in New York City was reiterated in 1854, and once more tied directly to the founding of the Free Academy just five years prior. In 1854 the state legislature amended the act of 1851 to grant the Board of Education power
to continue the existing Free Academy, and organize a similar institution for females, and if any similar institution is organized by the board of education, all the provisions of this act, relative to the Free Academy, shall apply to each and every one of the said institutions, as fully, completely, and distinctly as they could or would if it was the only institution of the kind.[19]
In 1868 the Board of Education once more called for the establishment of a female institution of higher education, and on November 13, 1869, the Committee on Normal, Evening and Colored Schools adopted a resolution establishing a daily Female Normal and High School.[20] The Female Normal and High School was opened on February 14, 1870, on the third floor of a building at the southeast corner of Broadway and Fourth Street.[19] The school was established by Irishschoolmaster and exiledrepublican Thomas Hunter as anormal school, who "insisted on admitting students of all racial and ethnic backgrounds and teaching a combined curriculum of liberal arts, science, and education."[21] The school's name was soon changed toNormal College and in September 1873 it moved into aGothic revivalist building designed by Hunter himself, between 68th and 69th Street on Park Avenue. A broad curriculum encompassing both the humanities and the sciences was implemented, and in the following decades the school expanded its focus on teacher education, to include more academic departments and disciplines/fields.[19]
In 1903,John Huston Finley became President of City College, succeedingAlexander Stewart Webb. In 1906, President of the Normal College Thomas Hunter retired, and the first stirrings of the merger of the colleges began. A highly debated coeducational proposal suggested a merger of the Normal College with the College of the City of New York. The Normal College opposed this measure. President Finley resigned from City College to pursue the position of commissioner of education for New York State; he later served as an associate editor ofThe New York Times. Finley was succeeded as City College President by American philosopherSidney E. Mezes of theUniversity of Texas. Prior to his departure from the college, former President Finley collaborated with philanthropistAdolph Lewisohn and architectArnold Brunner to construct an outdoor amphitheater for City College student use. Situated on New York City Parks Department land between Convent and Amsterdam Avenues, the reinforced concrete stadium held its inaugural event on May 29, 1915, showing a performance of the play,The Trojan Women. For the next five decades, the field atLewisohn Stadium hosted college events such as baseball, track, football, and ROTC exercises. Additionally, Lewisohn Stadium hosted a longstanding summer concert series produced by Stadium Concerts Inc., under the direction of Minnie Guggenheimer.
In 1908, George Samler Davis became the official second president of the Normal College; under his administration the college curriculum was liberalized to include electives, following the model Harvard was then introducing.[19] TheInterborough Rapid Transit Company was also persuaded by President Davis to complete the first section of the Lexington Avenue station at 68th Street, making the Normal College more accessible for students commuting from distant parts of the city. Late in his career, he also laid the groundwork for a new site in the Bronx.[22] Under the leadership of George Samler Davis, the Normal College would be renamed Hunter College to honor its founder. It also served to clarify the nature of its mission; formerly, its name implied that it was a technical or professional school, but as early as 1888 it had granted degrees and diplomas in the arts.[19] The school was constantly expanding, and the increased number of students and issues of overcrowding led to the creation of aBoard of Trustees in 1915, a major act in the history of education in New York.
Formation of the Board of Higher Education and the founding of Brooklyn College
There had been intimations of a free university in Brooklyn since the dawn of the 20th century. As early as 1905, Brooklyn ControllerEdward M. Grout proposed the formation of a free public university in Brooklyn.[23] The suggestion was to merge all of the various private institutions, and to follow the model provided by the success of City College and the Normal College. A large factor in the push for a Brooklyn school was the distance of the schools, rendering attendance "practically prohibitive" to residents of Brooklyn and Queens. Grout was quoted in theNew York Times:
What I propose is that we unite in asking of the Legislature an act to authorize a public university in Brooklyn, the Trustees to be appointed by the Mayor, with authority to the city by its Board of Estimate and Apportionment to locate its site in these east side lands or to provide another site, if the city so chooses, and also to make such appropriation as the Board of Estimate may see fit for buildings and maintenance, and with authority to make agreements of consolidation with such other educational institutions as may be willing and as the Board of Estimate may approve.[23]
In 1909, City College opened a teacher extension program in Brooklyn, and by 1917 they had created an evening program in Brooklyn.[24] A 1923 bill introduced by Assemblyman Joseph Reich called for the establishment of a free public college in Brooklyn, but this did not pass the legislature. One year later, President George Samler Davis of Hunter College was quoted inThe New York Times announcing that the Board of Trustees had "authorized the establishment of a Brooklyn Branch of the evening sessions of the college in the Girls' Commercial High School Building, Classon Avenue and Union Street."[25] These developments stirred resentment among Brooklyn's political leaders, leading Borough PresidentJoseph A. Guider to request funds from the New York State Assembly for the establishment of a university in Prospect Park.[26] Through debates over governance structure between proposals by the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce and proposals coming from Manhattan, a Board of Higher Education governing New York public colleges was formed in the passage of theNicoll-Hearn Bill signed into law by GovernorAl Smith in April 1926.Moses J. Stroock was named the board's first chairman. This bill also charged the board with the formation of a public college in the most populous district in Brooklyn.[26][27] Following the passage of the Nicoll-Hearn Bill in 1926, the board approved the opening of new City College and Hunter College branches in downtown Brooklyn. Four years later, Brooklyn College emerged from the merger of these Brooklyn annexes.[28] The school operated out of a rented office space in downtown Brooklyn before the school's first president,William Boylan, at the proposal of architect Randolph Evans, settled on an undeveloped track of land inMidwood. On October 2, 1935, MayorFiorello La Guardia broke ground on the new campus.Franklin D. Roosevelt would lay the last stone.[29][30]
Beginning at the end of and into the 20th-century, a wave of Jewish refugees would transform the social and political life of City College. As historian Conor Tomás Reed writes, "Jewish students from some of the most impoverished refugee families in the US flocked to City College to obtain a free college education. Over time, they turned the college into a hotbed of antifascism."[31] During the post-World War I era as someIvy League universities such asYale andColumbia placed harsh quotas on the number of Jewish students admitted, City College stood out for its working-class intellectual life.[32] The City College of New York developed a reputation of being "theHarvard of the proletariat" and a "Citadel on a Hill," a home for radical argumentation among those shut out of elite universities.[33][34][35][36][37][38] Early forms of student activism targeted compulsory military training on campus, and succeeded in having it eliminated in 1926.[39] There are a number of accounts documenting the alcoves in the cafeteria as sites of political debate.[38][40] However,Frederick B. Robinson, president of City College from 1927 to 1939, was a harsh disciplinarian who participated in the intense repression of these forms of student activism. This would develop over the course of the 1930s in the suspension of students, the dismissal of professors, and willful compliance with theanti-CommunistRapp-Coudert Committee.[41] Responding to the 1935 Teachers Union election that brought Communists into greater control as a part of the rank-and-file, the Committee sought to purge professors with alleged Communist affiliations from the universities.[42] This culminated in the firing of over fifty professors, the largest political purge of faculty in America.[43] This committee was based upon theHouse Un-American Activities Committee, and would itself serve as a model for future anti-communist investigations.
There are many examples of student protest at the different municipal universities through the 1930s. On April 13, 1934, City and Hunter Colleges were sites of the first National Student Strike Against War, organized by theStudent League for Industrial Democracy and theNational Student League. At City College, approximately 600 students gathered at the flagpole on campus to protest the war, as well as demand the reinstatement of twenty-one students who had been expelled for refusing to answer Dean Morton Gottschall's questions regarding their actions in a prior protest against a visiting delegation of soldiers from fascist Italy on October 9.[44][45] In April 1934, students at Hunter College demonstrated against then-president Dr. Eugene A. Colligan for his refusal to cooperate with the nationwide anti-war strike "and especially his attempt to call a halt to an anti-war convention at Hunter College on mere technicalities."[46] On November 20, 1934, nearly 1,500 gathered at the CCNY Quad to protest the expulsion, culminating in the burning of a two-headed effigy of CCNY President Robinson and Italian Prime MinisterBenito Mussolini.[47] After the rally, more than 2,000 City College students voted to reinstate the twenty-one students, this time advocating for "a 'legal method' of struggle...as opposed to the holding of unauthorized demonstrations."[48]
Brooklyn College was also referred to as a "hotbed of Communism" in the era of theRed Scare.[49] Republican representativeJ. Parnell Thomas, a member of theDies Committee, stated that he believed "25 per cent of the pupils in Brooklyn College, which is part of the City College of New York, are either affiliated with or sympathetic to the Communist party and that 33 per cent of the professors of Brooklyn College are just as sympathetic as the students."[49] In the words of Brooklyn College archivist Marianna Labatto, PresidentHarry Gideonse, who served from 1939 to 1966, believed that if academia did not provide moral, social, as well as intellectual guidance, "the void would be filled by popular culture and totalitarian regimes."[50] This led to the creation of committees to oversee student activities and thus deter from Communist influence. The work of the Faculty-Student Committee on Student Groups and Organizations led to the prevention of leader of theCommunist Party USA,Earl Browder, from speaking to the Karl Marx Society of Brooklyn College in 1939.[51] It also suppressed student publications through suspensions and the revocation of charters.
With an 111,360-citizen alliance, County JudgeCharles S. Colden appointed the Committee for a Queens Free College to study the possibility of establishing a free college in Queens on the site of the former New York Parental School for Boys.[52] On December 25, 1936,Mayor LaGuardia agreed to establish the school.[53] In 1937, the Queens branches of City College and Hunter College merged, creatingQueens College. Dr.Paul Klapper, at the time the Dean of the School of Education at City College, was elected the school's first president. Klapper was thrilled by the potentials of the college, and would refer to the school as "the people's college on the hill."[54] In an interview with theNew York Times that was published upon his election, May 26, 1937, he stated:
‘Many have been called to the leadership of institutions of higher learning in America, but to me there has come an opportunity unique in its richness: to help in the building of a great institution, to assemble its staff of teachers and scholars, to formulate its sphere of influence. We must build not another college but a new college, an institution whose identity stems from its distinctive aim and its distinctive staff. We must build more than a college for young people; we must develop a great cultural center for the Borough of Queens.’[55]
Demand in the United States for higher education rapidly grew afterWorld War II, and during the mid-1940s a movement began to createcommunity colleges to provide accessible education and training. The State of New York began to study postwar educational needs as early as 1940, with a plan by the State'sBoard of Regents to establish twenty-two new two year colleges, with eleven poised to be in New York City.[56] In 1944, a report by the New York Adult Education Council and another by the Rapp-Coudert committee's survey staff, called for increased attention to adult education in New York.[57] 270,000 full-time students were newly enrolled in New York State schools in wave ofveterans returning fromWorld War II hoping to take advantage of theGI Bill.[58] Beginning in 1946, pressure was applied to GovernorThomas E. Dewey to establish a state university. As historian writes:
The principal arguments advanced in support of a public university were three: the general shortage of college facilities in the State; the special need to provide spaces for large numbers of returning war veterans; and growing evidence of discriminatory admission policies among the private institutions, especially the medical schools.[59]
TheAmerican Jewish Congress andAmerican Jewish Committee had advocated for the Board of Regents to study admissions discrimination in institutions of higher education. In response, a Temporary Commission on the Need for a State University was forged, bringing together Jewish, Black, labor and legislative interests.[59] The Commission published a report in 1948 entitled "Inequality of Opportunity in Higher Education: A Study of Minority Group and Related Barriers to College Admission" which was to guide the development of New York City community colleges.[60] However, the community college movement was constrained by many factors including "financial problems, narrow perceptions of responsibility, organizational weaknesses, adverse political factors, and other competing priorities."[61] Community colleges would have drawn from the same city coffers that were funding the senior colleges, and city higher education officials believed that the state should finance them. A 1948 state law required student tuition to be implemented at community colleges.[62] Additionally, the municipal public colleges offered two-year and certificate programs in some subjects, thus rendering the need for the development of community colleges less urgent.[63] The State of New York had also already opened technical institutes in the city; the New York State Institute of Applied Arts and Sciences had been established in 1946 indowntown Brooklyn, and it was not until the end of the 1950s that the Board of Education authorized the establishment of three of its own community colleges.[64] These were to become the Staten Island Community College (laterCollege of Staten Island) in 1956,Bronx Community College in 1957, andQueensborough Community College in 1960.
TheState University of New York (SUNY) was significantly expanded under GovernorNelson Rockefeller. In 1959, Rockefeller formed the Heald Commission, chaired by President of theFord Foundation,Henry T. Heald, to
review the higher education needs and facilities in New York State and to make recommendations on the steps that the State could take to:
(1) assure educational opportunities to those qualified for college study;
(2) provide the undergraduate, graduate and professional training and research facilities necessary for the continued development of the State as a leading business, industrial, scientific and cultural center; and
(3) contribute its proper share of trained personnel to meet the nation's needs for education, health and welfare services[65]
The report recommended the "expansion of the SUNY system as well as public aid to private colleges, increased student scholarships, and an end to the tuition-free policy in New York City's municipal colleges."[66] In April 1961, Rockefeller signed an amendment to the New York State Education Law formally establishing the City University of New York.[67] This legislation followed some of the Heald Committee's recommendations, ending the state's free tuition mandate. The legislation integrated the four senior colleges and three community colleges, as well as a newDivision of Graduate Studies, into a coordinated system of higher education for the city under the control of the Board of Higher Education of the City of New York.
In 1962, the Board of Higher Education commissioned "A Long-Range Plan for the City University of New York, 1961-1975," a study of the University and a set of recommendations for its future. This report called for the Board to "reaffirm its support of the policy of free tuition for resident matriculated baccalaureate students which has been maintained for 115 years," and recommended that this policy be extended to the community colleges.[68] It called for the crafting of more generous admissions requirements to expand enrollment, as well as the expansion of the University's facilities to accommodate this expansion. In the following years, a number of new community and senior colleges were founded. In 1964, both theBorough of Manhattan Community College andKingsborough Community College were established.[69] The school also integrated the New York City Community College (later theNYC College of Technology), and the College of Police Science (COPS), later renamedJohn Jay College of Criminal Justice, was founded with the idea that "police should be educated to better deal with the social and political issues of the time period."[70]
Albert H. Bowker was named CUNY Chancellor in 1963. He was "struck by CUNY's unresponsiveness to the burgeoning college-age population and to the changed ethnic composition of the city,"[71] and argued for a major expansion of the public university system. He was a major advocate for the policy of "open admissions," which would guarantee every NYC high-school graduate a spot at the University. In the coming years, two remedial programs were created to assist students underprepared for college level work. TheCollege Discovery admissions program was established for the community colleges in 1964, andSEEK (Search for Education, Elevation, and Knowledge) in 1966.[72] These programs were instrumental in the struggle for an accessible and diverse university system, and "within a few years, SEEK would become a nucleus for experimental study that challenged the institutional inequalities entrenched in City College's admissions, curriculum, and relationship to Harlem."[73]
Calls for greater access to public higher education from theBlack andPuerto Rican communities in New York, especially in Brooklyn, led to the founding of "Community College Number 7 (laterMedgar Evers College) in 1966–1967.[74]Hostos Community College was also forged through this same form of activism in 1968.[75] AtBaruch College in 1967, over a thousand students protested the plan to make the college an upper-division school limited to junior, senior, and graduate students.[76] Also in 1967, the Bronx campus of Hunter College was changed toLehman College and entered as one of CUNY's senior undergraduate colleges.[77] The first senior college founded under the CUNY system wasYork College, established in 1967 inJamaica, Queens. AtBrooklyn College in 1968, students attempted a sit-in to demand the admission of more black and Puerto Rican students and additional Black Studies curriculum.[78] Students atHunter College also demanded aBlack Studies program.[79] Members of the SEEK program, which provided academic support for underprepared and underprivileged students, staged a building takeover atQueens College in 1969 to protest the decisions of the program's director, who would later be replaced by a Black professor.[80][81]
In 1969, a group of black and Puerto Rican students occupied City College and demanded theracial integration of CUNY, which at the time had an overwhelminglywhite student body.[61] The desires of minority students were succinctly detailed in a list of five demands issued by the Committee of Ten, a coalition of black and Puerto Rican students at City College:
In 1969, students and faculty across CUNY participated in rallies, student strikes, and class boycotts demanding an end to CUNY's restrictive admissions policies.Puerto Rican students atBronx Community College filed a report with theNew York State Division of Human Rights in 1970, contending that the intellectual level of the college was inferior and discriminatory.[83] Hunter College was crippled for several days by a protest of 2,000 students who had a list of demands focusing on more student representation in college administration.[84] Across CUNY, students boycotted their campuses in 1970 to protest a rise in student fees and other issues, including the proposed (and later implemented) open admissions plan.[85] CUNY administrators and MayorJohn Lindsay expressed support for these demands, and the Board of Higher Education (BHE) voted to implement the plan immediately in the fall of 1970.[74] All high school graduates were guaranteed entrance to the university without having to fulfill traditional requirements such as exams or grades. The policy nearly doubled the number of students enrolled in the CUNY system to 35,000 (compared to 20,000 the year before). Black and Hispanic student enrollment increased threefold.[86]Remedial education, to supplement the training of under-prepared students, became a significant part of CUNY's offerings.[87] Additionally, ethnic and Black Studies programs and centers were instituted on many CUNY campuses, contributing to the growth of similar programs nationwide.[74] Retention of students in CUNY during this period was low; two-thirds of students enrolled in the early 1970s left within four years without graduating.[74]
In 1970,LaGuardia Community College was founded inLong Island City, Queens with a focus oncooperative education.
Like many college campuses in 1970, CUNY faced a number ofprotests and demonstrations after theKent State massacre andCambodian Campaign. The Administrative Council of the City University of New York sent PresidentRichard Nixon a telegram in 1970 stating, "No nation can long endure the alienation of the best of its young people."[88] Some colleges, includingJohn Jay College of Criminal Justice, historically the "college for cops," held teach-ins in addition to student and faculty protests.[89]
In fall 1976, duringNew York City's fiscal crisis, the free tuition policy was discontinued under pressure from the federal government, the financial community that had a role in rescuing the city from bankruptcy, and New York State, which would take over the funding of CUNY's senior colleges.[90] Tuition, which had been in place in the State University of New York system since 1963, was instituted at all CUNY colleges.[91][92]
Meanwhile, CUNY students were added to the state's need-based Tuition Assistance Program (TAP), which had been created to help private colleges.[93] Full-time students who met the income eligibility criteria were permitted to receive TAP funding, ensuring for the first time that financial hardship would deprive no CUNY student of a college education.[93] Within a few years, the federal government would create its own need-based program, known asPell Grants, providing the neediest students with a tuition-free college education.
In 1981Charles Halpern, a founder of one of the nation's first public interest law firms, was hired by CUNY as the founding dean of a planned law school.[94]CUNY School of Law opened in 1983 as The CUNY Law School at Queens College.[95] The goal of CUNY Law was to provide a "new direction for teaching law" with a focus on public interest law, and on the education of students who may not traditionally have had access to law school.[96]
CUNY Law moved from their original location in Flushing to 2 Court Square in Long Island City at the end of May 2012.[97][98] It remains the only publicly funded law school in New York City.[99]
Joseph S. Murphy was Chancellor of the City University of New York from 1982 to 1990.[100] CUNY at the time was the third-largest university in the United States, with over 180,000 students.[101] CUNY's enrollment dipped after tuition was re-established, and there were further enrollment declines through the 1980s and into the 1990s.[102]
In 1995, CUNY suffered another fiscal crisis when GovernorGeorge Pataki proposed a drastic cut in state financing.[103] He also called for a $500 tuition increase and an end to SEEK and College Discovery. In response, faculty cancelled classes and students staged protests.[104] On March 23, 1995, between 10,000 and 20,000 students participated in a march on City Hall, organized by the CUNY Coalition Against the Cuts.[105][106] The organizers claimed that this was the "largest student demonstration since Vietnam." As detailed in College of Staten Island student newspaperThe Banner, "scores of students were arrested and issued summonses," with Governor Pataki and Mayor Guiliani "[denying] any responsibility for the violence that occurred at the rally."[107] TheNew York Times covered the protest: "sixty people, mostly students, were arrested, and 16, including 11 police offices were injured. All of the injuries were minor, the police said."[106] Despite student efforts, by May, CUNY was forced to adopt deep cuts to college budgets and class offerings.[108] By June, to save money spent on remedial programs, CUNY adopted a stricter admissions policy for its senior colleges: students deemed unprepared for college would not be admitted, this being a major departure from the 1970Open Admissions program.[109] That year's final state budget cut funding by $102 million, which CUNY absorbed by increasing tuition by $750 and offering a retirement incentive plan for faculty. The Student Liberation Action Movement (SLAM!) was an organization that branched out from the CUNY Coalition.
In 1999, a task force appointed by MayorRudolph Giuliani issued a report that described CUNY as "an institution adrift" and called for an improved, more cohesive university structure and management, as well as more consistent academic standards. Following the report,Matthew Goldstein, a mathematician and City College graduate who had led CUNY's Baruch College and briefly,Adelphi University, was appointed chancellor. CUNY ended its policy of open admissions to its four-year colleges, raised its admissions standards at its most selective four-year colleges (Baruch, Brooklyn, City, Hunter and Queens), and required new enrollees who needed remediation to begin their studies at a CUNY open-admissions community college.[110]
In response to the sweeping administrative actions called for in the “An Institution Adrift” report, the first decade of the 21st century was defined by rising institutional tensions created by exponential growth in CUNY's student enrollment, private fundraising campaigns, and program options under Chancellor Goldstein's direction.[111] CUNY's enrollment of degree-credit students reached 220,727 in 2005 and 262,321 in 2010 as the university broadened its academic offerings.[112] The university added more than 2,000 full-time faculty positions, opened new schools and programs, and expanded the university's fundraising efforts to help pay for them.[110]
Discord mounted between CUNY administrators, faculty and staff, and students as this unchecked growth and consolidation of decision-making authority gave way to "a system that increasingly became stratified by race and class" as well as the disproportionate increase of CUNY'sadjunct teaching workforce.[111] In response to this burgeoning labor crisis, PSC CUNY elected a “New Caucus” of progressive officers in 2000, replacing leadership that many rank-and-file organizers believed had not done enough to challenge austerity measures ushered in during the previous decade.
Despite faculty and staff resistance to the rapid expansion of the university system and the high costs that came with it, the strain on CUNY's financial and personnel resources was only exacerbated by theGreat Recession of 2008.[111]
By 2011, nearly six of ten full-time undergraduates qualified for a tuition-free education at CUNY due in large measure to state, federal and CUNY financial aid programs.[113] Fundraising increased from $35 million in 2000 to more than $200 million in 2012.[114]
By autumn 2013, all CUNY undergraduates were required to take an administration-dictated common core of courses that have been claimed to meet specific "learning outcomes" or standards. Since the courses are accepted university-wide, the administration claims it will be easier for students to transfer course credits between CUNY colleges. It also reduced the number of core courses some CUNY colleges had required, to a level below national norms, particularly in the sciences.[115][116] The program is the target of several lawsuits by students and faculty, and was the subject of a "no confidence" vote by the faculty, who rejected it by an overwhelming 92% margin.[117]
Chancellor Goldstein retired on July 1, 2013, and was replaced on June 1, 2014, byJames Milliken, president of theUniversity of Nebraska, and a graduate of theUniversity of Nebraska–Lincoln andNew York University School of Law.[118] Milliken left at the end of the 2018 academic year and moved on to become the chancellor for the University of Texas system.[119][120]
On February 13, 2019, the Board of Trustees voted to appoint Queens College presidentFelix V. Matos Rodriguez as the chancellor of the City University of New York.[121] Matos became both the first Latino and minority educator to head the university. He assumed the post May 1.[122]
In April 2024, CUNY students joinedother campuses across the United States in protests against the Israel–Hamas war.[123] The student protestors demanded that CUNY divest from companies with ties to Israel and that CUNY officials cancel any upcoming trips to Israel and protect students involved in the demonstrations.[124] In 2025, CUNY terminated four professors and one student leader for their opposition to theGaza war.[125][126]
Conceptualized during Chancellor Goldstein's incumbency and approved by CUNY's Board of Trustees in 1999, the first CUNY Honors College was established in 2001.[127] This senior honors college was renamed theWilliam E. Macaulay Honors College in 2006 after a $30 million donation made by the lateWilliam E. Macaulay (Baruch School of Business at City College, class of 1966) and his wife Linda.[128] The Macaulay endowment permitted CUNY's honors program to provide each of its students with four-year full-tuition merit scholarships, funded research projects and study abroad programs, and purchased a new building located at 35 W. 67th Street which opened its doors in April of 2008.[128] Eight senior CUNY colleges serve as "home campuses" for Macaulay Honors students, including Baruch College, Brooklyn College, City College, Hunter College, John Jay College, Lehman College, Queens College, and College of Staten Island.[127]
In June 2003, Neil Kleiman, then-director of theCenter for an Urban Future, addressed the Board of Trustees of the City University of New York detailing the need for creating theCUNY School of Professional Studies (CUNY SPS). CUNY SPS is a senior college that seeks to meet the educational needs of working adults.[129] In 2013, CUNY SPS opened its principal campus in midtown Manhattan, at the former site of theGimbels department store. In 2022 CUNY SPS was the forerunner of a CUNY initiative to provide excellence in online education.[130]
TheCraig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York opened in 2006 as the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism.[131] The school opened with the mission of expanding diversity in newsrooms across the nation and providing an affordable, publicly supported graduate journalism school in the New York region.[132] It is the only public graduate school of journalism in the northeastern United States.[133]
Guttman Community College was founded September 11, 2011, opening in 2012 as the New Community College.
In 2016 theGraduate School of Public Health & Health Policy was opened with the goal of centralizing CUNY's existing Public Health Programs. Students and faculty transferred to this new school from CUNY's existing Public Health programs at Brooklyn College, Lehman College, Hunter College and the CUNY Graduate Center.[134]
In 2018, CUNY opened its 25th campus, theCUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies, named after former presidentJoseph S. Murphy and combining some forms and functions of theMurphy Institute that were housed at theCUNY School of Professional Studies.[135]
On November 19, 2024, the School of Medicine was established as the 26th CUNY campus, separating it from the scope of City College of New York.[136]
On July 1, 2025, GovernorKathy Hochul signed into effect a free community college program for SUNY and CUNY students. The program is an expansion of theCUNY Reconnect initiative, a program allowing for "New York residents ages 25-55 with no prior degree" to earn "a tuition-free associate degree in high-demand fields."[137]
CUNY is the fourth-largest university system in the United States by enrollment, behind theCalifornia State University,State University of New York (SUNY), andUniversity of California systems. More than 271,000-degree-credit students, continuing, and professional education students are enrolled at campuses located in all five New York City boroughs.[138]
The university has one of the most diverse student bodies in the United States, with students hailing from around the world, although most students live in New York City. The black, white and Hispanic undergraduate populations each comprise more than a quarter of the student body, and Asian undergraduates make up 18 percent. Fifty-eight percent are female, and 28 percent are 25 or older.[139] In the 2017–2018 award year, 144,380 CUNY students received the Federal Pell Grant.[140]
Founded in 1997 by immigration lawyer Allan Wernick, CUNY Citizenship Now! is an immigration assistance organization that provides free and confidential immigration law services to help individuals and families on their path to U.S. citizenship.[141][142] In 2021, CUNY launched a College Immigrant Ambassador Program in partnership with theNew York City Department of Education.[143][144]
| Academic rankings | |
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| Global | |
| QS[145] | =613 |
![[icon]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg) | This sectionneeds expansion with: (see articles for similar U.S. schools). You can help byadding to it.(June 2020) |
Black: Senior Colleges;
Red: Graduate and Professional Schools;
Yellow: Community Colleges.
Today, the City University is governed by the board of trustees composed of 17 members, ten of whom are appointed by thegovernor of New York "with the advice and consent of the senate," and five by themayor of New York City "with the advice and consent of the senate." The final two trustees areex officio members. One is the chair of the university's student senate, and the other is non-voting and is the chair of the university's faculty senate. Both the mayoral and gubernatorial appointments to the CUNY Board are required to include at least one resident of each of New York City's five boroughs. Trustees serve seven-year terms, which are renewable for another seven years. The chancellor is elected by the board of trustees, and is the "chief educational and administrative officer" of the City University.
The administrative offices are inMidtown Manhattan.[146]
CUNY employs 6,700 full-time faculty members and over 10,000 adjunct faculty members.[147][148] Faculty and staff are represented by theProfessional Staff Congress (PSC), a labor union and chapter of theAmerican Federation of Teachers.[149]
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CUNY has a unifiedpublic safety department, the City University of New York Public Safety Department, with branches at each of the 26 CUNY campuses.[156]
TheNew York City Police Department is the primary policing and investigation agency within the New York City as per theNYC Charter, which includes all CUNY campuses and facilities.
The Public Safety Department came under heavy criticism from student groups, after several students protesting tuition increases tried to occupy the lobby of the Baruch College. The occupiers were forcibly removed from the area and several were arrested on November 21, 2011.[157]
In recent years, there have been a number of antisemitic incidents on CUNY campuses, including:
CUNY has taken steps to address antisemitism on its campuses. In 2020, the university created a task force to combat antisemitism. The task force has developed a number of initiatives, including training for faculty and staff on how to identify and address antisemitism.[162]
In June 2024, the United States Department of Education concluded that CUNY has failed to protect Jewish students from discrimination following theOctober 7 attacks. CUNY's Hunter College also faced scrutiny for incidents dating back to 2021. In response, Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez stated that CUNY is dedicated to maintaining a discrimination-free and hate-free environment, and that new measures will ensure consistent and transparent investigation and resolution of complaints.[163]
CUNY also has a broadcast TV service,CUNY TV (channel 75 onSpectrum, digital HD broadcast channel 25.3), which airstelecourses, classic and foreign films, magazine shows, and panel discussions in foreign languages.
TheCity University Film Festival is CUNY's official film festival. The festival was founded in 2009.[164][165]
CUNY graduates include13 Nobel laureates, 2 Fields Medalists, 2 U.S. Secretaries of State, a Supreme Court Justice, several New York City mayors, members of Congress, state legislators, scientists, artists, and Olympians.[139][166]
| Name | Grad. | College | Notable for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kenneth Arrow | 1940 | City | economist and joint winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics |
| Robert Aumann | 1950 | City | mathematician and winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics |
| Albert Axelrod | City | Olympic foil fencer | |
| Herman Badillo | 1951 | City | civil rights activist and first Puerto Rican elected to the U.S. Congress |
| Daniel Bukantz | City | Olympic foil fencer | |
| Abram Cohen | City | Olympic foil, épée, and sabre fencer | |
| Arlene Davila | 1996 | City | author and Anthropology and American Studies professor atNew York University |
| Rubén Díaz Jr. | 2005 | Lehman | Bronx Borough President |
| Rubén Díaz Sr. | 1976 | Lehman | NYC Council Member, Pastor |
| Jeffrey Dinowitz | 1975 | Lehman | NYS Assembly Member |
| Jesse Douglas | 1916 | City | mathematician and winner of one of the first twoFields Medals |
| Eliot Engel | 1969 | Lehman | Member of theUS House of Representatives, Chairman of theHouse Foreign Affairs Committee |
| Abraham Foxman | City | national director,Anti-Defamation League | |
| Felix Frankfurter | 1902 | City | U.S. Supreme Court Justice |
| Denise Galloway | 1975 | City | Cancer researcher and medical academic |
| Harold Goldsmith | 1952 | City | Olympic foil and épée fencer |
| Andy Grove | 1960 | City | Chairman and CEO,Intel Corporation |
| Herbert A. Hauptman | 1937 | City | mathematician and winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry |
| Letitia James | 1982 | Lehman | NYS Attorney General |
| Barbara Joans | 1974 | anthropologist who researchedbiker culture | |
| Jane Katz | 1963 | City | Olympic swimmer |
| Henry Kissinger | City | U.S. Secretary of State and National Security Advisor | |
| Leonard Kleinrock | 1957 | City | computer scientist, Internet pioneer |
| Guillermo Linares | 1975 | City | New York City Council member, first Dominican-American City Council member and Commissioner of the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs |
| Nathaniel Lubell | 1936 | City | Olympic foil, saber, and épée fencer |
| Samuel Lubell | City | pollster, journalist, andNational Book Award for Nonfiction finalist | |
| Lisa Nakamura | 1993 1996 | City | Director and Professor of the Asian American Studies Program at the Institute of Communication Research at theUniversity of Illinois Urbana-Champaign |
| Charles Neider | City | Author, Scholar | |
| Barnett Newman | 1927 | City | abstract expressionist artist |
| John O'Keefe | City | 2014 Nobel laureate in Medicine | |
| Colin Powell | 1958 | City | Chairman of theJoint Chiefs of Staff andSecretary of State |
| Mario Puzo | City | novelist,Oscar-winning screenwriter for Best Adapted Screenplay (1972, 1974). | |
| Faith Ringgold | 1955 | City | feminist, writer and artist |
| Saul Rogovin | City BMCC | Professional baseball player | |
| A. M. Rosenthal | 1949 | City | executive editor ofThe New York Times who championed the publication of thePentagon Papers;Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist expelled from Poland in 1959 for his reporting on the nation's government and society |
| Rochelle Saidel | City | author, founder of theRemember the Women Institute | |
| Jonas Salk | 1934 | City | developed the firstpolio vaccine |
| Daniel Schorr | 1939 | City | Emmy award winning broadcast journalist forCBS-TV andNational Public Radio |
| Elliott Fitch Shepard | 1855 | City | lawyer, banker, and a founder of theNew York State Bar Association |
| James Strauch | City | Olympic épée fencer | |
| Bernard Weinraub | City | journalist and playwright | |
| Henry Wittenberg | City | Olympic champion wrestler | |
| Egemen Bağış | Baruch | Turkish politician, government minister | |
| Abraham Beame | 1928 | Baruch | born Abraham Birnbaum; mayor of New York City |
| Robin Byrd | Baruch | host of public access programThe Robin Byrd Show (dropped out)[167] | |
| Barbara A. Cornblatt | 1977 | Baruch | professor of psychiatry and molecular medicine atHofstra University School of Medicine |
| Fernando Ferrer | Baruch | New York City mayoral candidate in 2001 and 2005 | |
| Sidney Harman | 1939 | Baruch | founder and executive chairman ofHarman Kardon |
| Marcia A. Karrow | Baruch | member ofNew Jersey General Assembly | |
| James Lam | 1983 | Baruch | author, risk management consultant |
| Ralph Lauren | Baruch | born Ralph Lifshitz; chairman and CEO ofPolo Ralph Lauren (dropped out) | |
| Dolly Lenz | Baruch | New York City real estate agent | |
| Dennis Levine | Baruch | prominent player in the Wall Streetinsider trading scandals of the mid-1980s | |
| Jennifer Lopez | Baruch | actress, singer, dancer (dropped out) | |
| Craig A. Stanley | Baruch | member ofNew Jersey General Assembly since 1996.[168] | |
| Tarkan | Baruch | Turkish language singer | |
| Bella Abzug | 1942 | Hunter | born Bella Savitzky; feminist; political activist; U.S. Representative, 1971–1977 |
| Carmen Beauchamp Ciparick | 1963 | Hunter | first Hispanic woman named to theNew York State Court of Appeals |
| Robert R. Davila | 1965 | Hunter | president ofGallaudet University and advocate for the rights of the hearing impaired |
| Ruby Dee | 1945 | Hunter | Emmy-nominated actress and civil rights activist |
| Martin Garbus | 1955 | Hunter | First amendment attorney |
| Florence Howe | 1950 | Hunter | founder of women's studies and founder/publisher of the Feminist Press/CUNY |
| Audre Lorde | 1959 | Hunter | African-American lesbian poet, essayist, educator and activist |
| Mohamed Mahmoud Ould Mohamedou | 1991 | Hunter | Foreign Minister ofMauritania and professor of international history at theGraduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva |
| Soia Mentschikoff | 1934 | Hunter | first woman partner of a major law firm; first woman elected president of theAssociation of American Law Schools |
| Thomas J. Murphy Jr. | 1973 | Hunter | three-term mayor ofPittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1994–2006 |
| Pauli Murray | 1933 | Hunter | first African-American woman named an Episcopal priest; human rights activist; lawyer and co-founder of N.O.W |
| Edward Thomas Brady | John Jay | (MA), trial attorney and Associate Justice of theSupreme Court of North Carolina | |
| Jennings Michael Burch | John Jay | author of the 1984 best-selling memoirThey Cage the Animals at Night | |
| Marcos Crespo | John Jay | (BA),New York State Assemblyman representing district 85[169] | |
| Edward A. Flynn | John Jay | Chief of theMilwaukee Police Department | |
| Petri Hawkins-Byrd | 1989 | John Jay | Judge Judy bailiff |
| Henry Lee | 1972 | John Jay | forensic scientist and founder of theHenry C. Lee Institute of Forensic Science |
| Miguel Martinez | John Jay | (BS), member of theNew York City Council representing the 10th District in upperManhattan'sWashington Heights,Inwood, andMarble Hill areas until his resignation on July 14, 2009 | |
| Eva Norvind | John Jay | (MA), actor and director | |
| Pauley Perrette | John Jay | actor best known for her role as Abby Scuito onNCIS | |
| Ronald Rice | John Jay | New Jersey StateSenator | |
| Ariel Rios | John Jay | undercover special agent for the United StatesBureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), killed in the line of duty | |
| Imette St. Guillen | John Jay | criminal justice graduate student murdered in February 2006. A scholarship was created in her name | |
| Scott Stringer | John Jay | Comptroller,Borough president ofManhattan, and member of theNew York State Assembly | |
| Dorothy Uhnak | John Jay | (BA), novelist and detective for theNew York City Transit Police Department | |
| Bill Baird | 1955 | Brooklyn | reproductive rights activist and co-director of the Pro Choice League |
| Barbara Aronstein Black | 1953 | Brooklyn | Dean ofColumbia Law School |
| Barbara Levy Boxer | 1962 | Brooklyn | anti-war activist, environmentalist, U.S. representative, 1982–1993, and U.S. senator |
| Mel Brooks | 1956 | Brooklyn | born Melvin Kaminsky; Academy, Emmy, and Tony Award-winning director, writer, and actor |
| Shirley Chisholm | 1946 | Brooklyn | first African-American U.S. Congresswoman, 1968–1982. Candidate for U.S. president, 1972 |
| Bruce Chizen | 1978 | Brooklyn | president & CEO,Adobe Systems |
| Manuel F. Cohen | 1933 | Brooklyn | Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman |
| Paul Cohen | 1953 | Brooklyn | Fields Medal-winning mathematician |
| Stanley Cohen | 1943 | Brooklyn | biochemist andNobel laureate (Physiology or Medicine), 1986 |
| Robert A. Daly | Brooklyn | CEO ofWarner Bros. andLos Angeles Dodgers | |
| Alan M. Dershowitz | 1959 | Brooklyn | Harvard Law School professor and author |
| Jerry Della Femina | 1957 | Brooklyn | Chairman & CEO, Della Femina, Jeary and Partners |
| Dan DiDio | 1983 | Brooklyn | comic book editor and executive forDC Comics |
| Benjamin Eisenstadt | 1954 | Brooklyn | creator ofSweet'N Low and founder ofCumberland Packing Corporation |
| Sandra Feldman | 1960 | Brooklyn | president,American Federation of Teachers |
| James Franco | Brooklyn | Golden Globe Award-winning actor | |
| Nikki Franke | 1972 | Brooklyn | Olympic foil fencer |
| Ralph Goldstein | Brooklyn | Olympic épée fencer | |
| Sterling Johnson Jr. | 1963 | Brooklyn | Senior United States district judge of theUnited States District Court for the Eastern District of New York |
| Gata Kamsky | 1999 | Brooklyn | chess grandmaster and five-time US chess champion |
| Saul Katz | 1960 | Brooklyn | president of theNew York Mets |
| Edward R. Korman | 1963 | Brooklyn | Senior United States District Judge on theUnited States District Court for the Eastern District of New York |
| Marvin Kratter | 1937 | Brooklyn | owner of theBoston Celtics |
| Don Lemon | 1996 | Brooklyn | reporter,CNN |
| Leonard Lopate | 1967 | Brooklyn | host of thepublic radio talk showThe Leonard Lopate Show, broadcast onWNYC |
| Michael Lynne | 1961 | Brooklyn | CEO ofNew Line Cinema |
| Marjorie Magner | 1969 | Brooklyn | Chairman ofGannett |
| Marty Markowitz | 1970 | Brooklyn | New York State Senator;BrooklynBorough President |
| Paul Mazursky | 1951 | Brooklyn | film director, writer, producer; actor |
| Frank McCourt | 1967 | Brooklyn | Pulitzer Prize-winning author ofAngela's Ashes and'Tis |
| Stanley Milgram | 1954 | Brooklyn | social psychologist |
| Jerry Moss | 1957 | Brooklyn | co-founder ofA&M Records |
| Barry Munitz | 1963 | Brooklyn | Chancellor ofCalifornia State University |
| Gloria Naylor | 1981 | Brooklyn | novelist; WinnerNational Book Award |
| Peter Nero | 1956 | Brooklyn | born Bernard Nierow; pianist and pops conductor;Grammy Award winner |
| Harvey Pitt | 1965 | Brooklyn | Chairman of theSecurities and Exchange Commission |
| Rosemary S. Pooler | 1959 | Brooklyn | United States circuit judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit |
| Jason K. Pulliam | 1995; 1997 | Brooklyn | United States district judge of theUnited States District Court for the Western District of Texas |
| Barry Salzberg | 1974 | Brooklyn | CEO ofDeloitte Touche Tohmatsu |
| Bernie Sanders | Brooklyn | US senator representing Vermont | |
| Steve Schirripa | 1980 | Brooklyn | actor known for his role asBobby Baccalieri on theHBO TV seriesThe Sopranos |
| Irwin Shaw | 1934 | Brooklyn | born Irwin Shamforoff;O. Henry Award-winning author |
| Timothy Shortell | 1992 | Brooklyn | Writer, critic of religion |
| Joel Harvey Slomsky | 1967 | Brooklyn | SeniorUnited States district judge of theUnited States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania |
| Jimmy Smits | 1980 | Brooklyn | Emmy Award-winning actor;NYPD Blue andL.A. Law |
| Maynard Solomon | 1950 | Brooklyn | co-founder ofVanguard Records |
| Lisa Staiano-Coico | 1976 | Brooklyn | president ofCity College of New York |
| Frank Tarloff | Brooklyn | Academy Award-winning screenwriter | |
| Benjamin Ward | 1960 | Brooklyn | first blackNew York City Police Commissioner, 1983–1989 |
| Iris Weinshall | 1975 | Brooklyn | Vice Chancellor at the City University of New York and Commissioner of theNew York City Department of Transportation |
| Jack B. Weinstein | 1943 | Brooklyn | Senior Judge,United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York |
| Walter Yetnikoff | 1953 | Brooklyn | CEO ofCBS Records |
| Philip Zimbardo | 1954 | Brooklyn | social psychologist |
| Joy Behar | 1964 | Queens | comedian, television personality |
| Jerry Colonna | Queens | venture capitalist and entrepreneur coach | |
| Joseph Crowley | Queens | member of theU.S. House of Representatives, 1999–2019 | |
| Alan Hevesi | Queens | New York State Comptroller, New York State Assemblyman, Queens College professor | |
| Cheryl Lehman | 1975 | Queens | Professor of Accounting,Hofstra University |
| Helen Marshall | Queens | QueensBorough President | |
| Donna Orender | Queens | WNBA president | |
| Jerry Seinfeld | 1976 | Queens | actor and comedian |
| Charles Wang | Queens | founder ofComputer Associates, owner of theNew York Islanders | |
| Carl Andrews | Medgar Evers | New York state senator | |
| Yvette Clarke | Medgar Evers | Congresswoman, member of the United States House of Representatives from New York's11th and9th congressional districts | |
| Richard Carmona | 1973 | Bronx | Surgeon General of the United States |
| Kid Chaos | 1991 | Bronx | British rock Bassist and Guitarist who played in incarnations of hard rock bands such as The Cult |
| The Kid Mero | Bronx | Co-host ofDesus & Mero | |
| Annabel Palma | 1991 | Bronx | NYC Council member, 2004–2017 |
| Cardi B | BMCC | Rapper | |
| Queen Latifah | BMCC | Singer-songwriter, rapper, actress, and producer | |
| Adam Saleh | BMCC | YouTuber and boxer | |
| Mirko Savone | BMCC | Italian voiceover actor | |
| Assata Shakur | BMCC | Former member ofBlack Liberation Army, 1970–1981 | |
| Gabourey Sidibe | BMCC | American actress | |
| Michael K. Williams | BMCC | American actor | |
| Riddick Bowe | Kingsborough | Professional boxer, 1989–2008 | |
| Mauriel Carty | Kingsborough | Anguillan sprinter | |
| Andrew Dice Clay | Kingsborough | Stand-up comedian, actor, musician and producer | |
| Pete Falcone | Kingsborough | Professional baseball pitcher | |
| Jeff Koinange | 1989 | Kingsborough | Journalist and host of Jeff Koinange Live |
| Phillipe Nover | Kingsborough | Mixed martial artist | |
| Larry Seabrook | 1972 | Kingsborough | NYC Council member, 2002–2012 |
| Aesha Waks | Kingsborough | Actress | |
| Khandi Alexander | Queensborough | Dancer, choreographer, and actress | |
| Sandra "Pepa" Denton | Queensborough | Rapper and songwriter, member ofSalt-N-Pepa | |
| Cheryl "Salt" James | Queensborough | Rapper and songwriter, member ofSalt-N-Pepa | |
| Nayan Padrai | Queensborough | Screenwriter, producer and director | |
| Joe Santagato | Queensborough | YouTuber, comedian and podcaster | |
| Elly Gross | 1993 | LaGuardia | A holocaust survivor and author of several Holocaust related books of poetry and prose |
| DJ JP | LaGuardia | The official DJ to Pop Smoke | |
| Reby Sky | LaGuardia | Professional wrestler and model | |
| Elliot Wilson | LaGuardia | Journalist, television producer, and magazine editor |
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