The City University of New York is required to submit a master plan to the Board of Regents of the Department of Education by April 2025. As outlined in the Education Policy Agenda, it will span an eight-year period from 2026 to 2034 and will help guide the University in achieving its goals during that time.
The CUNY Master Plan was developed through negotiations between CUNY Central staff and New York State Education Department (NYSED), with input from campus administrative and academic leadership. This plan will address the five main concerns by the Board of Regents and was evaluated in Fall 2024 by CUNY leadership at the Central Office alongside administrators. Aligned with the framework of the CUNY Strategic Roadmap, this master plan marks an important chapter in CUNY’s history, advancing the system “toward common goals, initiatives, and success metrics.”
Their priorities will include “improving academic outcomes such as increased enrollment, retention, graduation, successful transfer, and employment rates for our diverse student population.”
In the early 2000s, CUNY’s enrollment quickly increased, growing from 195,000 students in 2000 to 270,000 students enrolling between the years 2014 and 2019. However, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, enrollment started to significantly decline. After the pandemic, enrollment began to rise again in Fall 2023, increasing by more than 3%. Data also reveals a notable decline in enrollment for Hispanic students, demonstrating the need to address barriers related to admissions, financial aid, scheduling and services.
Freshman retention rates are also an essential component of maintaining healthy enrollment numbers and a predictor of future graduation rates. However, these rates have recently declined. The retention rate for full-time freshman community college students has decreased from 65% in 2013 to 59% in 2022. As for bachelor’s programs, retention rates decreased from 83% to 78%.
Obstacles related to the COVID-19 pandemic have impacted retention rates by “dipping to their lowest point in more than 20 years.” Retention rates started to increase from 2022 to Fall 2023. Noticing how the pandemic had a huge impact on retention rates, it must “improve to strengthen student success and achieve more equitable outcomes.”
For the last decade, CUNY has seen positive growth in graduation rates at both associates and bachelor’s level. While there was a small decline in graduation rates due to the disruptions of COVID-19, CUNY’s senior six-year graduation is still “10% points lower than the national public senior college six-year average.” National comparisons show that students graduate from the same college they entered as freshmen.
On the other hand, the CUNY system is built to support students and graduates from various colleges. While some CUNY students enter college as a freshman, “more than 50% of CUNY bachelor’s degree and 25% of CUNY associate degree graduates each year enter their degree programs as transfers rather than as first-time freshmen.”
However, most of these CUNY transfer students do not complete their bachelor’s or associate’s degrees. Only 18% get their degrees within six years, highlighting a need for improvement in retention and support. Despite this, CUNY students continue to have strong employment outcomes. In 2018, 68% with a Bachelor’s degree were employed a year after graduation, while 61% of CUNY students with an associates degree were employed in the same timeframe. CUNY’s Master Plan will address these challenges and help reach CUNY’s goals in the eight year period ahead.
