As a former CUNY student and the daughter of an alumnus, I experienced firsthand how CUNY opens doors of opportunity, especially for women and people of color. Mayor Eric Adams, too, has benefited from a CUNY education, with degrees from both City Tech and John Jay College.
CUNY has given countless New Yorkers, like us, the foundation to succeed. Now, we have an opportunity to do right by our prized public colleges and universities with adequate investments in this year’s city budget. Future generations of New Yorkers deserve to benefit from the economic and civic mobility that CUNY makes possible.
Four-fifths of CUNY students were educated in NYC schools. 85 percent are people of color, and 35 percent are immigrants. Half of the student population have family incomes below $30,000 per year. CUNY educates New Yorkers from all backgrounds, and in return, New York benefits from over $4 billion in taxes contributed annually from alumni. Our public university system is a major benefit to our city’s economy.
Yet, for all its proven success and guaranteed return on public investment, CUNY has endured decades of insufficient investment. It has become over-reliant on tuition for funding, and faces profound shortages of advisors, mental health counselors and full-time faculty. Most courses are taught by underpaid adjunct faculty, and many of the buildings and facilities have lacked adequate investments. Recent enrollment declines have led to reduced tuition revenue and created a catch-22 that has led to additional cuts.
The state and city governments share responsibility for funding CUNY and the years of inadequate budget support that have led to the current financial situation.
While public funding for CUNY’s senior colleges comes mostly from the State, the City provides important general operating and programmatic support. The City also plays a critical role in funding its community colleges, supporting almost 50 percent of their budgets in some cases. Harmful funding cuts proposed in the Fiscal Year 2024 Executive budget place CUNY on the chopping block and the future of countless students in jeopardy.
The Executive budget has compounded rounds of funding cuts to CUNY by the Administration. These will have a detrimental effect, as it was reported during Council budget hearings that most campuses will have to cut their programming and activity expenses by approximately five-to-six percent.
Programs, along with faculty and staff positions for critical roles vacated during the pandemic from which CUNY has yet to fully recover, need to be funded rather than eliminated.
CUNY is an engine of opportunity and is critical to the city’s economic recovery. Investing in the needs and well-being of the people of New York is directly tied to adequately funding CUNY and our educational institutions. That is why the City Council’s Fiscal Year 2024 Budget Response prioritized restoring the more than $30 million in funding losses facing CUNY, baselining its important programmatic initiatives and staff positions.
The Executive Budget fulfilled the Council’s request for $5.8 million to expand CUNY Reconnect, a program I proudly helped establish last year that has supported the re-enrollment of more than 16,000 former students, a majority of whom are women and people of color. That is a positive step forward, which should continue with additional commitments to help CUNY provide opportunities for New Yorkers.
Fiscal responsibility requires balancing the priorities of our twin responsibilities to invest in our city and protect the health of the city budget, something the Council’s budget response achieved.
CUNY, its 243,000 students, and countless other New Yorkers it benefits should be a top priority in the city budget. CUNY is a proven vehicle for economic opportunity and advancement for all New Yorkers and deserves our full support.
The Council will continue to urge the Mayor to join us in committing the necessary funding for CUNY to have the programs and staff its students and our communities need.
After all, as two former CUNY students whose education made it possible for us to now lead our city as Mayor and Speaker, we should support opportunities for others to benefit the same.
Adrienne Adams is the Speaker of the New York City Council and represents District 28 in Southeast Queens.
