New York City Councilmembers on the Committee on Higher Education pressed CUNY leaders on systemwide graduation rates and asked the university to set more ambitious targets and prepare budget requests to scale programs that boost completion.

Councilmember Eric Dinowitz opened the oversight hearing by noting national benchmarks and CUNY’s most recent figures: the system’s 6‑year associate rate is about 36.5 percent and the 6‑year bachelor rate is 57.9 percent. “The graduation rates at CUNY campuses are important to me,” he said, asking CUNY to report how many students graduate on the traditional 2‑ or 4‑year timelines.

Sarah Trilch, Assistant Dean for Policy Research at the CUNY Central Office, said the declines in some short‑term rates reflect pandemic disruptions but that longer‑term trends showed improvement before COVID‑19. For the cohort entering in 2018, CUNY reported a 4‑year bachelor rate of 35.3 percent, a 5‑year rate of 52.4 percent and a 6‑year rate of 57.9 percent; for associate students the system reported a 2‑year rate of 11.8 percent, a 3‑year rate of 24.9 percent and a 6‑year rate of 36.5 percent.

CUNY officials and John Jay College leaders described a mix of causes that slow on‑time completion: students dropping to part‑time enrollment to work or take internships, insufficient course sections or advising in some pathways, and financial barriers that force students to delay enrollment. “We will enroll any student who has the equivalent of a high school credential,” Trilch said, noting open‑access mission creates a tradeoff between broad access and guaranteed on‑time graduation.

Councilmembers repeatedly pressed whether the university’s system goal — a 5‑percentage‑point increase in targeted graduation metrics by 2030 as part of the “CUNY Lifting New York” plan — is sufficiently ambitious. “I believe the goals that they set, are not what CUNY and our students are capable of,” Dinowitz said. CUNY staff said the target was calibrated to be realistic based on historical trends and the lag in cohort reporting.

Witnesses outlined existing supports and asked the council to consider further investments. Christine Bronyart, CUNY’s ASAP and ACE executive director, said ASAP — a long‑running accelerated support model for associate students — and ACE — an adaptation for bachelor‑seeking students — “have doubling impact on degree completion rates when compared to non‑program first‑time freshmen.” She reported an ASAP per‑student annual cost of about $3,391 and ACE about $3,447 and said philanthropy and state funds have expanded pilots, but ACE currently serves roughly 3 percent of eligible senior college students.

Allison Pease, provost at John Jay College, described campus initiatives that improved outcomes, including CUSP (Completion of Upper Division Students), which an internal analysis showed increased senior graduation from 54 percent to 86 percent in its first year, and Apple Corps, a stipend‑based cohort partnership that reached a 70 percent 4‑year rate in 2023 for its participants.

On remedies, CUNY recommended baseline funding to scale ACE, continued city support for ASAP, expansion of OmniCard transit benefits, and pilot programs tailored to part‑time and adult learners. Policy researchers from the Center for an Urban Future urged a 10‑year citywide target to raise credentials among underrepresented communities, scale ACE to match ASAP’s reach, and launch a “CUNY Flex” pilot for part‑time students.

The committee requested a more detailed budget request and disaggregated graduation‑rate breakdowns by race, ethnicity, gender, income and age. Dinowitz closed the hearing by saying the council stands ready to partner on investments to improve outcomes.

What happens next: CUNY was asked to produce requested disaggregated data and to prepare specific funding requests for the next budget cycle; the committee adjourned without a vote.