How CUNY is keeping its graduates on track
COVID challenged education. Robin Hood invested in the solution.
Graduates from Bronx Community College’s Robin Hood-funded program Future Now, which promotes the educational and vocational development of young adults residing in the Bronx. Below: CUNY main campus.
Dr. Felix Matos Rodriguez is the eighth — and first Latino — Chancellor of CUNY, the largest urban public university system in the United States. “CUNY as a system is very special because it is one of the few places in the U.S. where, within a single system, you can go from getting a high school equivalency degree all the way to a PhD, a medical degree, or a law degree,” said Dr. Rodriguez on a Robin Hood funder’s call this summer. Because of your generosity, Robin Hood awarded its first grant to the university system in the opening weeks of the Relief Fund, and then provided over $1 million to its central Relief Fund as well as to four of its campuses. The reason for Robin Hood’s consistent support of CUNY, said CEO Wes Moore, is that “there is no greater engine to this idea of sustainable economic mobility that we have in the city of New York more than CUNY.” They serve nearly half a million New Yorkers across 25 campuses scattered throughout the boroughs. Nearly 40% of CUNY’s students come from homes in New York City where the household income is less than $20,000 a year. About half of the students are the
first one in their families to attend college. Nearly 40% were not born in the U.S. “When we made the pivot in March to move 50,000 courses into the distance learning modality, we needed to understand the moment and circumstances our students were facing,” said Dr. Rodriguez. Between 15 and 20% of CUNY students are parents. “So think about your routine, totally disrupted,” he said. “Your children would now be with you fighting for computer time to be able to take the courses.” With the support from Robin Hood and others, CUNY was able to prioritize the students who were the poorest. “And then we prioritized among those students, those who were student parents, and those who had 12 credits or less to graduate,” said Dr. Rodriguez. “We wanted to make a push for those students who were finishing. We didn’t want to lose them in the pandemic.” “We know the efficacy of this institution and how they’re really working to serve a vast number of students in New York City,” said Moore. “CUNY is an imperative way to reach the population with monetary and other social supports. And we’re proud to have them as partners.”
“THERE IS NO GREATER ENGINE TO THIS IDEA OF SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC MOBILITY THAT WE HAVE IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK MORE THAN CUNY.” —WES MOORE
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