At CUNY, Opportunity Knocks Louder Than Ever
by Chancellor Matthew Goldstein

A college education helps New Yorkers to achieve their dreams—yet some wonder if now is the right time to pursue their education. In fact, there has never been a better time to take advantage of the outstanding educational opportunities available at The City University of New York.

CUNY is well known for the high quality education available at our campuses, and for the numerous achievements of our distinguished faculty and alumni. Applications and enrollment at CUNY are at their highest level in nearly a decade, and employers continue to higher our graduates in record numbers. The CUNY Honors College, beginning its third year this fall, has drawn steadily increasing numbers of gifted and ambitious students—with mean SAT scores of 1351 and cumulative high school academic averages around 93%. Governor Pataki and Mayor Bloomberg have turned to CUNY as the lead institution in the planning of education programs on Governors Island. Our community colleges will be hiring over 300 full-time faculty in the next 18 months—the most significant investment in over thirty years. CUNY’s College Now program is available in more than 200 high schools, promoting college readiness for over 40,000 students. According to Standard and Poor’s survey of alumni and their alma maters, more CUNY graduates lead businesses and companies than graduates of any other university in the nation.

These improvements have taken place despite the current economic downturn and budgetary shortfalls at the state and city levels. Last month, CUNY’s Board of Trustees approved its first tuition increase since 1995. Rather than the $950 increase authorized by the State in its budget, we kept the increase at $800 a year for full-time resident students at our senior colleges and $300 at our community colleges.

As CUNY continues to help New Yorkers realize their educational goals, we have implemented a five-point program to assist students in identifying ways to pay for their college education.

Financial Aid. CUNY colleges offer more than 1,000 scholarships and special programs to help defray the costs of attending college, in addition to city; state and federal programs, including some that are geared specifically to moderate-income families. More than two-thirds of CUNY’s 160,000 undergraduates receive awards, scholarships and financial aid. These opportunities, as well as information on student loans and work-study, are listed on cuny.edu/financialaid.

We are particularly encouraged that the New York City Council’s Peter F. Vallone Academic Achievement Scholarships (for high school graduates with a “B” average or better) have been fully restored. The City Council has also launched a $4.5 million “Safety Net” tuition assistance program providing additional financial aid for currently enrolled and resident community college students who face economic hardship due to the tuition increase. We are deeply grateful to the leadership of the City Council and the City administration for the priority they have placed on the need for an educated workforce in New York City.

Special Seminars. CUNY holds seminars throughout the year in all five boroughs that focus on financial aid. The public seminars, which are offered in Spanish, Chinese and Russian in addition to English, are conducted by experts from the CUNY Office of Financial Aid and include tips on filling out applications and monitoring the status of the request after it has been filed. For a schedule of seminars and more information see cuny.edu/financialaid.

Interest Free Payment Plan. To help students pay their tuition, CUNY has set up the TuitionPay Monthly Payment Plan, managed by Academic Management Services Inc., which allows students to pay their tuition interest-free in five monthly installments. The only cost is a $30 enrollment fee. Students can sign up by calling the toll-free number 866-AMS-CUNY.

Student Jobs. CUNY’s comprehensive job site, cuny.edu/studentjobs, gives students access to hundreds of full-time and part-time listings for metro-area positions in a variety of fields and skill levels. The site, which consolidates job listings from CUNY’s 19 campuses as well as from private companies also includes openings that are available exclusively to CUNY students.

Free On-line Career Guide. This free service provides students with “Vault Guide” series of materials that include valuable tips on resumes, cover letters, industry overviews and much more. Vault Guides also features 60 advice and guidebooks that have a retail value of $1,000 if purchased separately. Students can access the Vault Guide web site by obtaining a password from their campus career counseling office, or by visiting cuny.edu/studentjobs.

In short, there has never been a better time for interested students to explore the opportunities CUNY has to offer, by visiting one of the websites listed above or calling 1-800-CUNY-YES. We look forward to continuing to serve these students and providing future New Yorkers with a first-class education and an outstanding value.#

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