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New York’s Free Tuition Promise Falling Short

Report - March 2020

New York’s Free Tuition Promise Falling Short

Faced with major economic disruption, New Yorkers are likely to turn to higher education. But while the Excelsior Scholarship program is growing, CUNY students and community college students statewide continue to be underserved.

by Eli Dvorkin and Brody Viney

Tags: higher education economic opportunity economic growth community colleges


 

Table 1: Total Enrollment and Awards by College Type
 20172018
 Undergraduate EnrollmentExcelsior AwardsShareUndergraduate Enrollment Excelsior AwardsShare
CUNY       
Community Colleges95,9513560.4%95,073 3350.4%
Senior Colleges148,4692,9942.0%149,878 3,7382.5%
CUNY Total244,4203,3501.4%244,951 4,0731.7%
SUNY       
Community Colleges209,2334,6192.2%199,661 4,4622.2%
Senior/State Colleges181,95212,4896.9%182,080 16,5659.1%
SUNY Total391,18517,1084.4%381,741 21,0275.5%
All Community Colleges305,1844,9751.6%294,734 4,7971.6%
All Senior Colleges330,42115,4834.7%331,958 20,3036.1%
New York State Total635,60520,4583.2%626,692 25,1004.0%
Table 2: Growth in enrollments, awards, and award funding, 2017-2018
2017-2018
 Enrollment GrowthAward GrowthFunding Growth
CUNY   
Community Colleges-0.9%-5.9%55.5%
Senior Colleges0.9%24.8%42.0%
CUNY Total0.2%21.6%43.1%
SUNY   
Community Colleges-4.6%-3.4%14.6%
Senior/State Colleges0.1%32.6%50.4%
SUNY Total-2.4%22.9%43.2%
Community Colleges-3.4%-3.6%17.2%
Senior Colleges0.5%31.1%49.0%
New York State Total-1.4%22.7%43.2%
Table 3: Enrollment and Awards as a Share of Total
 20172018
 Share of EnrollmentsShare of AwardsShare of FundingShare of EnrollmentsShare of AwardsShare of Funding
CUNY      
Community Colleges15%2%1%15%1%1%
Senior Colleges23%15%14%24%15%14%
CUNY Total38%16%15%39%16%15%
SUNY      
Community Colleges33%23%17%32%18%14%
Senior/State Colleges29%61%68%29%66%71%
SUNY Total62%84%85%61%84%85%
Community Colleges48%24%18%47%19%15%
Senior/State Colleges52%76%82%53%81%85%
New York State Total100%100%100%100%100%100%
Table 4: Enrollment and Awards by College
 20172018
 Undergraduate EnrollmentExcelsior AwardsShareUndergraduate EnrollmentExcelsior AwardsShare
CUNY Community Colleges      
BMCC26,932970.4%26,5061230.5%
Bronx10,935100.1%10,519100.1%
Guttman1,066363.4%955373.9%
Hostos7,211110.2%7,33190.1%
Kingsborough15,034430.3%15,051380.3%
LaGuardia19,373610.3%19,300400.2%
Queensborough15,400980.6%15,411780.5%
CUNY Senior Colleges      
Baruch15,2533452.3%15,0243492.3%
Brooklyn14,6893152.1%14,9783882.6%
City13,2102932.2%13,1863632.8%
Hunter16,8445453.2%17,2127694.5%
John Jay12,9163612.8%13,3194563.4%
Lehman11,9781631.4%12,6392301.8%
Medgar Evers6,652540.8%6,638520.8%
NYCCT17,2791791.0%17,2692041.2%
Queens16,6803462.1%16,6204522.7%
Staten Island12,5092492.0%12,2113052.5%
York8,3931441.7%8,4951702.0%
Professional Studies2,066-0.0%2,111-0.0%
Labor & Urban Studies--0.0%176-0.0%
SUNY Community Colleges      
Adirondack3,8921403.6%3,7271453.9%
Broome5,6242013.6%6,5072223.4%
Cayuga County3,784631.7%3,775651.7%
Clinton1,583392.5%1,376604.4%
Columbia-Greene1,623322.0%1,578412.6%
Corning3,834882.3%3,424772.2%
Dutchess9,0611461.6%8,5821381.6%
Erie11,1352812.5%10,5292552.4%
Fashion Institute8,6612923.4%8,5553303.9%
Finger Lakes6,3532153.4%5,9441682.8%
Fulton-Montgomery2,403753.1%2,451773.1%
Genesee5,9061412.4%5,5301202.2%
Herkimer County2,632943.6%2,398913.8%
Hudson Valley11,0203673.3%10,8963863.5%
Jamestown4,463892.0%4,4761172.6%
Jefferson3,4601193.4%3,2771003.1%
Mohawk Valley6,5061472.3%6,3171502.4%
Monroe12,9073532.7%12,2733072.5%
Nassau19,0592551.3%17,4062071.2%
Niagara County5,4391793.3%5,0471723.4%
North Country2,006190.9%1,978150.8%
Onondaga10,6592642.5%9,8342372.4%
Orange County6,6011201.8%6,6171121.7%
Rockland6,9501151.7%6,859961.4%
Schenectady County6,588781.2%5,231671.3%
Suffolk County26,7564351.6%26,0784631.8%
Sullivan County1,565281.8%1,534281.8%
Tompkins Cortland2,632632.4%2,373592.5%
Ulster County3,560651.8%3,554712.0%
Westchester12,5711160.9%11,535860.7%
SUNY Senior/State Colleges      
Albany13,5081,1748.7%13,5981,51611.1%
Alfred State4,1883769.0%3,73743711.7%
Binghamton13,7241,0727.8%14,0211,41910.1%
Brockport7,1807039.8%7,05793913.3%
Buffalo State8,5275826.8%8,0826878.5%
Buffalo University21,0201,4967.1%21,6121,8148.4%
Canton3,1831685.3%3,2162497.7%
Cobleskill2,2972259.8%2,33230513.1%
Cornell Statutory5,85280.1%5,968180.3%
Cortland6,3466109.6%6,34381912.9%
Delhi3,4672647.6%3,2383009.3%
Empire State9,810540.6%9,327500.5%
Envir Sci & Forestry1,791794.4%1,8251297.1%
Farmingdale9,5524124.3%9,9165395.4%
Fredonia4,39356812.9%4,43173016.5%
Geneseo5,52458810.6%5,49485715.6%
Maritime1,641583.5%1,586704.4%
Morrisville3,0632116.9%2,9862187.3%
New Paltz6,7335398.0%6,69273911.0%
Old Westbury4,6352294.9%4,7843056.4%
Oneonta5,9405659.5%6,04679713.2%
Oswego7,1256999.8%7,08195513.5%
Plattsburgh5,3513426.4%5,29757810.9%
Potsdam3,3212106.3%3,29837011.2%
Purchase4,0632917.2%4,13446111.2%
Stony Brook17,2938314.8%17,4741,0746.1%
SUNY Poly2,1791285.9%2,2561757.8%
Upstate Medical24672.8%249156.0%
New York State Total635,60520,4583.2%626,69225,1004.0%

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