Earlier this year, the Center for an Urban Future argued that establishing a new top-flight undergraduate university in New York City should be a key part of efforts to keep the city competitive in the emerging post-pandemic economy. We were excited by Vanderbilt University’s announcement that it is planning to open a new campus in Chelsea—and thrilled to hear from university officials that our research contributed to their decision to expand.

In our March 2024 report, Big Ideas to Help NYC Thrive in the Post-Pandemic Economy, we made the case that adding another top-flight undergraduate university would help New York continue attracting talented young people who are key contributors to the city’s economic vitality. 

The secret behind New York City’s remarkable economic success over the past decades is its consistent ability to attract, retain, and produce highly talented young people. This is why many top employers are here today despite the city’s high costs. However, New York has work to do to keep the talent pipeline flowing in today’s hybrid work age, where several other cities now pose legitimate competition for recent college graduates. 

Establishing a prestigious new university or helping an existing university expand would also help cultivate job growth in an industry—private colleges and universities—that has quietly but steadily become one of the fastest-growing sources of new middle-wage jobs in the city’s economy.

To be sure, New York is already home to several excellent colleges and universities, but there is room for growth. New York has fewer top-tier universities—institutions attracting tens of thousands of applicants from elsewhere—than other global cities. New York City has just two colleges among the world’s 100 leading universities: NYU and Columbia. In contrast, Los Angeles and London both have four, while Boston/Cambridge and Hong Kong each have three. Now, New York is poised to add another one.