Vanderbilt University's plans to open a campus in Manhattan would create new job growth, and become a mechanism to strengthen the city’s talent pipeline for years to come.

In this amNY op-ed, Executive Director Jonathan Bowles argues that a key component of New York City’s remarkable economic success over the past few decades has been the consistent ability to attract, retain, and produce highly talented young people. 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. Vanderbilt's plan to come to Chelsea is a big opportunity that New York City should embrace.

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 recovery in our March 2024 report Big Ideas to Help NYC Thrive in a Post-Pandemic Economy.

Read the full op-ed here.

This op-ed builds on CUF's report, Big Ideas to Help NYC Thrive in the Post-Pandemic Economy, and op-ed, NYC needs a new world-class college.