This story was originally published on Jan. 30 by THE CITY. Sign up here to get the latest stories from THE CITY delivered to you each morning. The CITY partners with Open Campus on coverage of the City University of New York.
The City University of New York Board of Trustees Committee on Education Policy this week approved a “Master Plan” for 2026 to 2034 that projects an 13% increase in enrollment by 2030 and outlines a set of strategies to accomplish that goal.
The document signals CUNY’s leadership intends to step up efforts to attract adult New Yorkers who already have some college experience. The university plans to emphasize continuing education and workforce development programs, boost its online course offerings and target more New York City-area students who are not enrolled in public schools.
The plan notes demographic and educational trends that influenced its undergraduate projections, including a steady decline in New York City public school enrollment, difficulty assessing college readiness following waivers granted for high school graduation Regents exams during the pandemic, and the long-term value students and families place on higher education.
CUNY plans to reach a total enrollment of 264,000 students by 2030, including non-degree enrollments — up from 233,352 in 2023. “While additional analysis is needed to more accurately project enrollment through 2034, we expect to, at minimum, sustain the 2030 achieved target,” reads the report.
“It sounds ambitious but in line with the direction that CUNY has been going,” Ayinde Bennett, a postsecondary readiness manager with Urban Assembly, which works with high school students across the city to prepare them for college, told THE CITY about the enrollment targets.
“I think they are really investing in ‘How do we make CUNY the university for New Yorkers, for New York?’ The idea that you can go to Columbia and NYU but CUNY is a far more affordable option,” he added, noting the university’s reputation as a driver of social and economic mobility.
At a state of the university presentation in November, CUNY chancellor Felix Matos Rodriguez celebrated the system’s second straight year of increased enrollment, reversing a downward trend exacerbated by the pandemic. Approximately 3% more students matriculated compared to the previous year, including 6% more at the community colleges. Enrollment of graduate students also increased for the first time in four years.
But enrollment is still down 10% compared to pre-pandemic levels — and matriculation of Hispanic students has been particularly slow to recover.
Emmanuel Moses, director of guidance and transition for the Opportunity Network, a nonprofit organization that helps students from underrepresented communities access college and professional opportunities, told THE CITY that CUNY’s enrollment projections “will definitely be possible if they expand what, not just college, but what post secondary success looks like,” and if they continue to address affordability.
“I can see it happening, but I think it’s gonna take a lot of them sort of saying, ‘Hey, let’s do more certificate programs, or let’s connect with more workforce,’” said Moses. “I think it’s a space where they’re realizing it can’t just be ‘Let me go to high schools.’”
In the report, CUNY said it will redouble its efforts to recruit and serve the nearly 700,000 New Yorkers with college credits and no degree among working-age adults, noting it will increase its “emphasis on building workforce-aligned programs and pathways including certificate and workforce skills programs for in-demand careers.” Approximately 30% of CUNY undergraduate students withdraw from educational programs each year.
CUNY initiatives like Accelerated Studies Associate Program (ASAP) and Accelerate, Create, and Engage (ACE), which offer students comprehensive support through advisement, career development, and tuition and transportation assistance, will go a long way toward attracting and holding on to those potential students, added Moses.
“If you’re going to retain and support returning students, adult learners, you need to acknowledge the things that are going on really in their life, whether it’s child care, whether it’s transportation,” he said, noting of ASAP that it “gives book stipends. It provides free transportation. You know how clutch that is for a parent or somebody who has to work?”
CUNY Reconnect, which helps working-age adults who once attended CUNY return to the university, is one program that the institution plans to expand to support that demographic. It will target “individuals impacted by the criminal justice system (including their family members), students educated outside the United States and veterans.” Supported with initial funding from the City Council, the program has re-enrolled 40,000 students since its creation in 2022, the chancellor said during his state of the university speech.
CUNY noted it would seek to expand its college readiness programs for public school students as a way to get more to enroll at its campuses. More than 80% of the university’s freshmen are graduates of the city’s public high schools.
To add about 5,100 graduate students by 2030, the university plans to strengthen its undergraduate-to-graduate pipeline by enhancing mentoring and expanding accelerated dual bachelor’s and master’s programs.
As part of a statewide plan for higher education, the master plan from CUNY is mandated by the New York State Board of Regents, which determines education policy for the state, by April 29.
The plan was reviewed by CUNY leadership, faculty, staff, students and administrators across the university’s campuses this past fall, according to the document. The full board will vote on the plan on Feb. 18.
