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Public university system in New York City From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The City University of New York (CUNY, spoken /ˈkjuːni/, KYOO-nee) is the public university system of New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven senior colleges, seven community colleges, and seven professional institutions.
| |
| Motto | Latin: Eruditio populi liberi spes gentium |
|---|---|
Motto in English | The education of free people is the hope of Mankind[1] |
| Type | Public university system |
| Established | 1961[2] |
| Budget | $3.6 billion[3] |
| Chancellor | Félix V. Matos Rodríguez[4] |
| Provost | Wendy Hensel |
Academic staff | 19,568[5] |
Administrative staff | 33,099[5] |
| Students | 243,000[6] |
| Location | New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Campus | 25 campuses[7] |
| Website | cuny |
 | |
In 1960, John R. Everett became the first chancellor of the Municipal College System of New York City, later known as the City University of New York (CUNY). CUNY, established by New York state legislation in 1961 and signed into law by governor Nelson Rockefeller, was an amalgamation of existing institutions and a new graduate school. The oldest constituent college of CUNY, City College of New York, was originally founded in 1847 and became the first free public institution of higher learning in the United States.[8]
The system was governed by the Board of Higher Education of the City of New York, created in 1926, and later renamed the board of trustees of the CUNY in 1979. The institutions merged into CUNY included the Free Academy (later City College of New York), the Female Normal and High School (later Hunter College), Brooklyn College, and Queens College. CUNY has historically provided accessible education, especially to those excluded or unable to afford private universities. The first community college in New York City was established in 1955 with shared funding between the state and the city, but unlike the senior colleges, community college students had to pay tuition.
The integration of CUNY's colleges into a single university system took place in 1961, under a chancellor and with state funding. The Graduate Center, serving as the principal doctorate-granting institution, was also established that year. In 1964, Mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr. extended the senior colleges' free tuition policy to community colleges. The 1960s saw student protests demanding more racial diversity and academic representation in CUNY, leading to the establishment of Medgar Evers College and the implementation of the Open Admissions policy in 1970. This policy dramatically increased student diversity but also introduced challenges like low retention rates. The 1976 fiscal crisis ended the free tuition policy, leading to the introduction of tuition fees for all CUNY colleges. The university enrolls more than 275,000 students and counts thirteen Nobel Prize winners and twenty-four MacArthur Fellows among its alumni.[9]
In 1960, John R. Everett became the first chancellor of the Municipal College System of the City of New York, later renamed CUNY, for a salary of $25,000 ($257,000 in current dollar terms).[10][11][12] CUNY was created in 1961,[13] by New York State legislation, signed into law by Governor Nelson Rockefeller. The legislation integrated existing institutions and a new graduate school into a coordinated system of higher education for the city, under the control of the "Board of Higher Education of the City of New York", which had been created by New York State legislation in 1926. By 1979, the Board of Higher Education had become the "Board of Trustees of the CUNY".[14]
The institutions that were merged to create CUNY were:[14]
CUNY has served a diverse student body, especially those excluded from or unable to afford private universities. Its four-year colleges offered a high-quality, tuition-free education to the poor, the working class, and the immigrants of New York City who met the grade requirements for matriculated status. During the post-World War I era, when some Ivy League universities, such as Yale University, discriminated against Jews, many Jewish academics and intellectuals studied and taught at CUNY.[15] The City College of New York developed a reputation of being "the Harvard of the proletariat."[16]
As New York City's population and public college enrollment grew during the early 20th century and the city struggled for resources, the municipal colleges slowly began adopting selective tuition, also known as instructional fees, for a handful of courses and programs. During the Great Depression, with funding for public colleges severely constrained, limits were imposed on the size of the colleges' free Day Sessions, and tuition was imposed upon students deemed "competent" but not academically qualified for the day program. Most of these "limited matriculation" students enrolled in the Evening Sessions, and paid tuition.[17] Additionally, as the population of New York grew, CUNY was not able to accommodate the demand for higher education. Higher and higher requirements for admission were imposed; in 1965, a student seeking admission to CUNY needed an average grade of 92 or A−.[18] This helped to ensure that the student population of CUNY remained largely white and middle-class.[18]
Demand in the United States for higher education rapidly grew after World War II, and during the mid-1940s a movement began to create community colleges to provide accessible education and training. In New York City, however, the community college movement was constrained by many factors including "financial problems, narrow perceptions of responsibility, organizational weaknesses, adverse political factors, and other competing priorities."[19]
Community colleges would have drawn from the same city coffers that were funding the senior colleges, and city higher education officials were of the view that the state should finance them. It was not until 1955, under a shared-funding arrangement with New York State, that New York City established its first community college, on Staten Island. Unlike the day college students attending the city's public baccalaureate colleges for free, community college students had to pay tuition fees under the state-city funding formula. Community college students paid tuition fees for approximately 10 years.[19]
Over time, tuition fees for limited-matriculated students became an important source of system revenues. In fall 1957, for example, nearly 36,000 attended Hunter, Brooklyn, Queens and City Colleges for free, but another 24,000 paid tuition fees of up to $300 a year ($3,300 in current dollar terms).[20] Undergraduate tuition and other student fees in 1957 comprised 17 percent of the colleges' $46.8 million in revenues, about $7.74 million ($83,970,000 in current dollar terms).[21]
Three community colleges had been established by early 1961 when New York City's public colleges were codified by the state as a single university with a chancellor at the helm and an infusion of state funds. But the city's slowness in creating the community colleges as demand for college seats was intensifying and had resulted in mounting frustration, particularly on the part of minorities, that college opportunities were not available to them.
In 1964, as New York City's Board of Higher Education moved to take full responsibility for the community colleges, city officials extended the senior colleges' free tuition policy to them, a change that was included by Mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr. in his budget plans and took effect with the 1964–65 academic year.[22]
Calls for greater access to public higher education from the black and Puerto Rican communities in New York, especially in Brooklyn, led to the founding of "Community College Number 7," later Medgar Evers College, in 1966–1967.[18] In 1969, a group of black and Puerto Rican students occupied City College and demanded the racial integration of CUNY, which at the time had an overwhelmingly white student body.[19]
Students at some campuses became increasingly frustrated with the university's and Board of Higher Education's handling of university administration. At Baruch College in 1967, over a thousand students protested the plan to make the college an upper-division school limited to junior, senior, and graduate students.[23] At Brooklyn College in 1968, students attempted a sit-in to demand the admission of more black and Puerto Rican students and additional black studies curriculum.[24] Students at Hunter College also demanded a Black studies program.[25] Members of the SEEK program, which provided academic support for underprepared and underprivileged students, staged a building takeover at Queens College in 1969 to protest the decisions of the program's director, who would later be replaced by a black professor.[26][27] Puerto Rican students at Bronx Community College filed a report with the New York State Division of Human Rights in 1970, contending that the intellectual level of the college was inferior and discriminatory.[28] Hunter College was crippled for several days by a protest of 2,000 students who had a list of demands focusing on more student representation in college administration.[29] Across CUNY, students boycotted their campuses in 1970 to protest a rise in student fees and other issues, including the proposed (and later implemented) open admissions plan.[30]
Like many college campuses in 1970, CUNY faced a number of protests and demonstrations after the Kent State massacre and Cambodian Campaign. The Administrative Council of the City University of New York sent U.S. president Richard Nixon a telegram in 1970 stating, "No nation can long endure the alienation of the best of its young people."[31] Some colleges, including John Jay College of Criminal Justice, historically the "college for cops," held teach-ins in addition to student and faculty protests.[32]
In April 2024, CUNY students joined other campuses across the United States in protests against the Israel–Hamas war.[33][34] The student protestors demanded that CUNY divest from companies with ties to Israel and that CUNY officials cancel any upcoming trips to Israel and protect students involved in the demonstrations.[35]
Under pressure from community activists and CUNY Chancellor Albert Bowker, the Board of Higher Education (BHE) approved an open admissions plan in 1966, but it was not scheduled to be fully implemented until 1975.[18] However, in 1969, students and faculty across CUNY participated in rallies, student strikes, and class boycotts demanding an end to CUNY's restrictive admissions policies. CUNY administrators and Mayor John Lindsay expressed support for these demands, and the BHE voted to implement the plan immediately in the fall of 1970.[18]
All high school graduates were guaranteed entrance to the university without having to fulfill traditional requirements such as exams or grades. The policy nearly doubled the number of students enrolled in the CUNY system to 35,000 (compared to 20,000 the year before). Black and Hispanic student enrollment increased threefold.[36] Remedial education, to supplement the training of under-prepared students, became a significant part of CUNY's offerings.[37] Additionally, ethnic and Black Studies programs and centers were instituted on many CUNY campuses, contributing to the growth of similar programs nationwide.[18]
However, retention of students in CUNY during this period was low; two-thirds of students enrolled in the early 1970s left within four years without graduating.[18]
In fall 1976, during New York City's fiscal crisis, the free tuition policy was discontinued under pressure from the federal government, the financial community that had a role in rescuing the city from bankruptcy, and New York State, which would take over the funding of CUNY's senior colleges.[38] Tuition, which had been in place in the State University of New York system since 1963, was instituted at all CUNY colleges.[39][40]
Meanwhile, CUNY students were added to the state's need-based Tuition Assistance Program (TAP), which had been created to help private colleges.[41] Full-time students who met the income eligibility criteria were permitted to receive TAP, ensuring for the first time that financial hardship would deprive no CUNY student of a college education.[41] Within a few years, the federal government would create its own need-based program, known as Pell Grants, providing the neediest students with a tuition-free college education. Joseph S. Murphy was Chancellor of the City University of New York from 1982 to 1990, when he resigned.[42] CUNY at the time was the third-largest university in the United States, with over 180,000 students.[43]
By 2011, nearly six of ten full-time undergraduates qualified for a tuition-free education at CUNY due in large measure to state, federal and CUNY financial aid programs.[44] CUNY's enrollment dipped after tuition was re-established, and there were further enrollment declines through the 1980s and into the 1990s.[45]
In 1995, CUNY suffered another fiscal crisis when Governor George Pataki proposed a drastic cut in state financing.[46] Faculty cancelled classes and students staged protests. By May, CUNY adopted deep cuts to college budgets and class offerings.[47] By June, to save money spent on remedial programs, CUNY adopted a stricter admissions policy for its senior colleges: students deemed unprepared for college would not be admitted, this a departure from the 1970 Open Admissions program.[48] That year's final state budget cut funding by $102 million, which CUNY absorbed by increasing tuition by $750 and offering a retirement incentive plan for faculty.
In 1999, a task force appointed by Mayor Rudolph Giuliani issued a report that described CUNY as "an institution adrift" and called for an improved, more cohesive university structure and management, as well as more consistent academic standards. Following the report, Matthew Goldstein, a mathematician and City College graduate who had led CUNY's Baruch College and briefly, Adelphi University, was appointed chancellor. CUNY ended its policy of open admissions to its four-year colleges, raised its admissions standards at its most selective four-year colleges (Baruch, Brooklyn, City, Hunter and Queens), and required new enrollees who needed remediation to begin their studies at a CUNY open-admissions community college.[49]
CUNY's enrollment of degree-credit students reached 220,727 in 2005 and 262,321 in 2010 as the university broadened its academic offerings.[50] The university added more than 2,000 full-time faculty positions, opened new schools and programs, and expanded the university's fundraising efforts to help pay for them.[49] Fundraising increased from $35 million in 2000 to more than $200 million in 2012.[51]
By autumn 2013, all CUNY undergraduates were required to take an administration-dictated common core of courses which have been claimed to meet specific "learning outcomes" or standards. Since the courses are accepted university-wide, the administration claims it will be easier for students to transfer course credits between CUNY colleges. It also reduced the number of core courses some CUNY colleges had required, to a level below national norms, particularly in the sciences.[52][53] The program is the target of several lawsuits by students and faculty, and was the subject of a "no confidence" vote by the faculty, who rejected it by an overwhelming 92% margin.[54]
Chancellor Goldstein retired on July 1, 2013, and was replaced on June 1, 2014, by James Milliken, president of the University of Nebraska, and a graduate of the University of Nebraska and New York University School of Law.[55] Milliken retired at the end of the 2018 academic year and moved on to become the chancellor for the University of Texas system.[56][57]
In 2018, CUNY opened its 25th campus, the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies, named after former president Joseph S. Murphy and combining some forms and functions of the Murphy Institute that were housed at the CUNY School of Professional Studies.[58]
On February 13, 2019, the board of trustees voted to appoint Queens College president Felix V. Matos Rodriguez as the chancellor of the City University of New York.[59] Matos became both the first Latino and minority educator to head the university. He assumed the post May 1.[60]
CUNY is the fourth-largest university system in the United States by enrollment, behind the California State University, State University of New York (SUNY), and University of California systems. More than 271,000-degree-credit students, continuing, and professional education students are enrolled at campuses located in all five New York City boroughs.[61]
The university has one of the most diverse student bodies in the United States, with students hailing from around the world, although most students live in New York City. The black, white and Hispanic undergraduate populations each comprise more than a quarter of the student body, and Asian undergraduates make up 18 percent. Fifty-eight percent are female, and 28 percent are 25 or older.[62] In the 2017–2018 award year, 144,380 CUNY students received the Federal Pell Grant.[63]
Founded in 1997 by immigration lawyer Allan Wernick, CUNY Citizenship Now! is an immigration assistance organization that provides free and confidential immigration law services to help individuals and families on their path to U.S. citizenship.[64][65] In 2021, CUNY launched a College Immigrant Ambassador Program in partnership with the New York City Department of Education.[66][67]
| Academic rankings | |
|---|---|
| Global | |
| QS[68] | 701-750 |
![[icon]](#/media/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} | This section needs expansion with: (see articles for similar U.S. schools). You can help by adding to it. (June 2020) |
Black: Senior Colleges; 
Red: Graduate and Professional Schools; 
Yellow: Community Colleges. | This article contains close paraphrasing of a non-free copyrighted source, https://www.cuny.edu/about/trustees/history/ (Copyvios report). (August 2024) |
The forerunner of today's City University of New York was governed by the Board of Education of New York City. Members of the Board of Education, chaired by the president of the board, served as ex officio trustees. For the next four decades, the board members continued to serve as ex officio trustees of the College of the City of New York and the city's other municipal college, the Normal College of the City of New York.
In 1900, the New York State Legislature created separate boards of trustees for the College of the City of New York and the Normal College, which became Hunter College in 1914. In 1926, the legislature established the Board of Higher Education of the City of New York, which assumed supervision of both municipal colleges.
In 1961, the New York State Legislature established the City University of New York, uniting what had become seven municipal colleges at the time: the City College of New York, Hunter College, Brooklyn College, Queens College, Staten Island Community College, Bronx Community College and Queensborough Community College. In 1979, the CUNY Financing and Governance Act was adopted by the State and the Board of Higher Education became the City University of New York board of trustees.
Today, the City University is governed by the board of trustees composed of 17 members, ten of whom are appointed by the governor of New York "with the advice and consent of the senate," and five by the mayor of New York City "with the advice and consent of the senate." The final two trustees are ex officio members. One is the chair of the university's student senate, and the other is non-voting and is the chair of the university's faculty senate. Both the mayoral and gubernatorial appointments to the CUNY Board are required to include at least one resident of each of New York City's five boroughs. Trustees serve seven-year terms, which are renewable for another seven years. The chancellor is elected by the board of trustees, and is the "chief educational and administrative officer" of the City University.
The administrative offices are in Midtown Manhattan.[69]
CUNY employs 6,700 full-time faculty members and over 10,000 adjunct faculty members.[70][71] Faculty and staff are represented by the Professional Staff Congress (PSC), a labor union and chapter of the American Federation of Teachers.[72]
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CUNY has a unified public safety department, the City University of New York Public Safety Department, with branches at each of the 26 CUNY campuses.[79] The New York City Police Department is the primary policing and investigation agency within the New York City as per the NYC Charter, which includes all CUNY campuses and facilities.
The Public Safety Department came under heavy criticism from student groups, after several students protesting tuition increases tried to occupy the lobby of the Baruch College. The occupiers were forcibly removed from the area and several were arrested on November 21, 2011.[80]
In recent years, there have been a number of antisemitic incidents on CUNY campuses, including:
CUNY has taken steps to address antisemitism on its campuses. In 2020, the university created a task force to combat antisemitism. The task force has developed a number of initiatives, including training for faculty and staff on how to identify and address antisemitism.[86]
In June 2024, the United States Department of Education concluded that CUNY has failed to protect Jewish students from discrimination following the October 7 attacks. CUNY's Hunter College also faced scrutiny for incidents dating back to 2021. In response, Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez stated that CUNY is dedicated to maintaining a discrimination-free and hate-free environment, and that new measures will ensure consistent and transparent investigation and resolution of complaints.[84]
CUNY also has a broadcast TV service, CUNY TV (channel 75 on Spectrum, digital HD broadcast channel 25.3), which airs telecourses, classic and foreign films, magazine shows, and panel discussions in foreign languages.
The City University Film Festival is CUNY's official film festival. The festival was founded in 2009.[87][88]
CUNY graduates include 13 Nobel laureates, 2 Fields Medalists, 2 U.S. Secretaries of State, a Supreme Court Justice, several New York City mayors, members of Congress, state legislators, scientists, artists, and Olympians.[62][89]
| Name | Grad. | College | Notable for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kenneth Arrow | 1940 | City | economist and joint winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics |
| Robert Aumann | 1950 | City | mathematician and winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics |
| Albert Axelrod | City | Olympic foil fencer | |
| Herman Badillo | 1951 | City | civil rights activist and first Puerto Rican elected to the U.S. Congress |
| Daniel Bukantz | City | Olympic foil fencer | |
| Abram Cohen | City | Olympic foil, épée, and sabre fencer | |
| Arlene Davila | 1996 | City | author and Anthropology and American Studies professor at New York University |
| Rubén Díaz Jr. | 2005 | Lehman | Bronx Borough President |
| Rubén Díaz Sr. | 1976 | Lehman | NYC Council Member, Pastor |
| Jeffrey Dinowitz | 1975 | Lehman | NYS Assembly Member |
| Jesse Douglas | 1916 | City | mathematician and winner of one of the first two Fields Medals |
| Eliot Engel | 1969 | Lehman | Member of the US House of Representatives, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee |
| Abraham Foxman | City | national director, Anti-Defamation League | |
| Felix Frankfurter | 1902 | City | U.S. Supreme Court Justice |
| Denise Galloway | 1975 | City | Cancer researcher and medical academic |
| Harold Goldsmith | 1952 | City | Olympic foil and épée fencer |
| Andy Grove | 1960 | City | Chairman and CEO, Intel Corporation |
| Herbert A. Hauptman | 1937 | City | mathematician and winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry |
| Letitia James | 1982 | Lehman | NYS Attorney General |
| Barbara Joans | 1974 | anthropologist who researched biker culture | |
| Jane Katz | 1963 | City | Olympic swimmer |
| Henry Kissinger | City | U.S. Secretary of State and National Security Advisor | |
| Leonard Kleinrock | 1957 | City | computer scientist, Internet pioneer |
| Guillermo Linares | 1975 | City | New York City Council member, first Dominican-American City Council member and Commissioner of the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs |
| Nathaniel Lubell | 1936 | City | Olympic foil, saber, and épée fencer |
| Samuel Lubell | City | pollster, journalist, and National Book Award for Nonfiction finalist | |
| Lisa Nakamura | 1993 1996 | City | Director and Professor of the Asian American Studies Program at the Institute of Communication Research at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign |
| Charles Neider | City | Author, Scholar | |
| Barnett Newman | 1927 | City | abstract expressionist artist |
| John O'Keefe | City | 2014 Nobel laureate in Medicine | |
| Colin Powell | 1958 | City | Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Secretary of State |
| Mario Puzo | City | novelist, Oscar-winning screenwriter for Best Adapted Screenplay (1972, 1974). | |
| Faith Ringgold | 1955 | City | feminist, writer and artist |
| Saul Rogovin | City BMCC | Professional baseball player | |
| A. M. Rosenthal | 1949 | City | executive editor of The New York Times who championed the publication of the Pentagon Papers; Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist expelled from Poland in 1959 for his reporting on the nation's government and society |
| Rochelle Saidel | City | author, founder of the Remember the Women Institute | |
| Jonas Salk | 1934 | City | developed the first polio vaccine |
| Daniel Schorr | 1939 | City | Emmy award winning broadcast journalist for CBS-TV and National Public Radio |
| Elliott Fitch Shepard | 1855 | City | lawyer, banker, and a founder of the New York State Bar Association |
| James Strauch | City | Olympic épée fencer | |
| Bernard Weinraub | City | journalist and playwright | |
| Henry Wittenberg | City | Olympic champion wrestler | |
| Egemen Bağış | Baruch | Turkish politician, government minister | |
| Abraham Beame | 1928 | Baruch | born Abraham Birnbaum; mayor of New York City |
| Robin Byrd | Baruch | host of public access program The Robin Byrd Show (dropped out)[90] | |
| Barbara A. Cornblatt | 1977 | Baruch | professor of psychiatry and molecular medicine at Hofstra University School of Medicine |
| Fernando Ferrer | Baruch | New York City mayoral candidate in 2001 and 2005 | |
| Sidney Harman | 1939 | Baruch | founder and executive chairman of Harman Kardon |
| Marcia A. Karrow | Baruch | member of New Jersey General Assembly | |
| James Lam | 1983 | Baruch | author, risk management consultant |
| Ralph Lauren | Baruch | born Ralph Lifshitz; chairman and CEO of Polo Ralph Lauren (dropped out) | |
| Dolly Lenz | Baruch | New York City real estate agent | |
| Dennis Levine | Baruch | prominent player in the Wall Street insider trading scandals of the mid-1980s | |
| Jennifer Lopez | Baruch | actress, singer, dancer (dropped out) | |
| Craig A. Stanley | Baruch | member of New Jersey General Assembly since 1996.[91] | |
| Tarkan | Baruch | Turkish language singer | |
| Bella Abzug | 1942 | Hunter | born Bella Savitzky; feminist; political activist; U.S. Representative, 1971–1977 |
| Carmen Beauchamp Ciparick | 1963 | Hunter | first Hispanic woman named to the New York State Court of Appeals |
| Robert R. Davila | 1965 | Hunter | president of Gallaudet University and advocate for the rights of the hearing impaired |
| Ruby Dee | 1945 | Hunter | Emmy-nominated actress and civil rights activist |
| Martin Garbus | 1955 | Hunter | First amendment attorney |
| Florence Howe | 1950 | Hunter | founder of women's studies and founder/publisher of the Feminist Press/CUNY |
| Audre Lorde | 1959 | Hunter | African-American lesbian poet, essayist, educator and activist |
| Mohamed Mahmoud Ould Mohamedou | 1991 | Hunter | Foreign Minister of Mauritania and professor of international history at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva |
| Soia Mentschikoff | 1934 | Hunter | first woman partner of a major law firm; first woman elected president of the Association of American Law Schools |
| Thomas J. Murphy Jr. | 1973 | Hunter | three-term mayor of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1994–2006 |
| Pauli Murray | 1933 | Hunter | first African-American woman named an Episcopal priest; human rights activist; lawyer and co-founder of N.O.W |
| Edward Thomas Brady | John Jay | (MA), trial attorney and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina | |
| Jennings Michael Burch | John Jay | author of the 1984 best-selling memoir They Cage the Animals at Night | |
| Marcos Crespo | John Jay | (BA), New York State Assemblyman representing district 85[92] | |
| Edward A. Flynn | John Jay | Chief of the Milwaukee Police Department | |
| Petri Hawkins-Byrd | 1989 | John Jay | Judge Judy bailiff |
| Henry Lee | 1972 | John Jay | forensic scientist and founder of the Henry C. Lee Institute of Forensic Science |
| Miguel Martinez | John Jay | (BS), member of the New York City Council representing the 10th District in upper Manhattan's Washington Heights, Inwood, and Marble Hill areas until his resignation on July 14, 2009 | |
| Eva Norvind | John Jay | (MA), actor and director | |
| Pauley Perrette | John Jay | actor best known for her role as Abby Scuito on NCIS | |
| Ronald Rice | John Jay | New Jersey State Senator | |
| Ariel Rios | John Jay | undercover special agent for the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), killed in the line of duty | |
| Imette St. Guillen | John Jay | criminal justice graduate student murdered in February 2006. A scholarship was created in her name | |
| Scott Stringer | John Jay | Comptroller, Borough president of Manhattan, and member of the New York State Assembly | |
| Dorothy Uhnak | John Jay | (BA), novelist and detective for the New York City Transit Police Department | |
| Bill Baird | 1955 | Brooklyn | reproductive rights activist and co-director of the Pro Choice League |
| Barbara Aronstein Black | 1953 | Brooklyn | Dean of Columbia Law School |
| Barbara Levy Boxer | 1962 | Brooklyn | anti-war activist, environmentalist, U.S. representative, 1982–1993, and U.S. senator |
| Mel Brooks | 1956 | Brooklyn | born Melvin Kaminsky; Academy, Emmy, and Tony Award-winning director, writer, and actor |
| Shirley Chisholm | 1946 | Brooklyn | first African-American U.S. Congresswoman, 1968–1982. Candidate for U.S. president, 1972 |
| Bruce Chizen | 1978 | Brooklyn | president & CEO, Adobe Systems |
| Manuel F. Cohen | 1933 | Brooklyn | Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman |
| Paul Cohen | 1953 | Brooklyn | Fields Medal-winning mathematician |
| Stanley Cohen | 1943 | Brooklyn | biochemist and Nobel laureate (Physiology or Medicine), 1986 |
| Robert A. Daly | Brooklyn | CEO of Warner Bros. and Los Angeles Dodgers | |
| Alan M. Dershowitz | 1959 | Brooklyn | Harvard Law School professor and author |
| Jerry Della Femina | 1957 | Brooklyn | Chairman & CEO, Della Femina, Jeary and Partners |
| Dan DiDio | 1983 | Brooklyn | comic book editor and executive for DC Comics |
| Benjamin Eisenstadt | 1954 | Brooklyn | creator of Sweet'N Low and founder of Cumberland Packing Corporation |
| Sandra Feldman | 1960 | Brooklyn | president, American Federation of Teachers |
| James Franco | Brooklyn | Golden Globe Award-winning actor | |
| Nikki Franke | 1972 | Brooklyn | Olympic foil fencer |
| Ralph Goldstein | Brooklyn | Olympic épée fencer | |
| Sterling Johnson Jr. | 1963 | Brooklyn | Senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York |
| Gata Kamsky | 1999 | Brooklyn | chess grandmaster and five-time US chess champion |
| Saul Katz | 1960 | Brooklyn | president of the New York Mets |
| Edward R. Korman | 1963 | Brooklyn | Senior United States District Judge on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York |
| Marvin Kratter | 1937 | Brooklyn | owner of the Boston Celtics |
| Don Lemon | 1996 | Brooklyn | reporter, CNN |
| Leonard Lopate | 1967 | Brooklyn | host of the public radio talk show The Leonard Lopate Show, broadcast on WNYC |
| Michael Lynne | 1961 | Brooklyn | CEO of New Line Cinema |
| Marjorie Magner | 1969 | Brooklyn | Chairman of Gannett |
| Marty Markowitz | 1970 | Brooklyn | New York State Senator; Brooklyn Borough President |
| Paul Mazursky | 1951 | Brooklyn | film director, writer, producer; actor |
| Frank McCourt | 1967 | Brooklyn | Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Angela's Ashes and 'Tis |
| Stanley Milgram | 1954 | Brooklyn | social psychologist |
| Jerry Moss | 1957 | Brooklyn | co-founder of A&M Records |
| Barry Munitz | 1963 | Brooklyn | Chancellor of California State University |
| Gloria Naylor | 1981 | Brooklyn | novelist; Winner National Book Award |
| Peter Nero | 1956 | Brooklyn | born Bernard Nierow; pianist and pops conductor; Grammy Award winner |
| Harvey Pitt | 1965 | Brooklyn | Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission |
| Rosemary S. Pooler | 1959 | Brooklyn | United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit |
| Jason K. Pulliam | 1995; 1997 | Brooklyn | United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas |
| Barry Salzberg | 1974 | Brooklyn | CEO of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu |
| Bernie Sanders | Brooklyn | US senator representing Vermont | |
| Steve Schirripa | 1980 | Brooklyn | actor known for his role as Bobby Baccalieri on the HBO TV series The Sopranos |
| Irwin Shaw | 1934 | Brooklyn | born Irwin Shamforoff; O. Henry Award-winning author |
| Timothy Shortell | 1992 | Brooklyn | Writer, critic of religion |
| Joel Harvey Slomsky | 1967 | Brooklyn | Senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania |
| Jimmy Smits | 1980 | Brooklyn | Emmy Award-winning actor; NYPD Blue and L.A. Law |
| Maynard Solomon | 1950 | Brooklyn | co-founder of Vanguard Records |
| Lisa Staiano-Coico | 1976 | Brooklyn | president of City College of New York |
| Frank Tarloff | Brooklyn | Academy Award-winning screenwriter | |
| Benjamin Ward | 1960 | Brooklyn | first black New York City Police Commissioner, 1983–1989 |
| Iris Weinshall | 1975 | Brooklyn | Vice Chancellor at the City University of New York and Commissioner of the New York City Department of Transportation |
| Jack B. Weinstein | 1943 | Brooklyn | Senior Judge, United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York |
| Walter Yetnikoff | 1953 | Brooklyn | CEO of CBS Records |
| Philip Zimbardo | 1954 | Brooklyn | social psychologist |
| Joy Behar | 1964 | Queens | comedian, television personality |
| Jerry Colonna | Queens | venture capitalist and entrepreneur coach | |
| Joseph Crowley | Queens | member of the U.S. House of Representatives, 1999–2019 | |
| Alan Hevesi | Queens | New York State Comptroller, New York State Assemblyman, Queens College professor | |
| Cheryl Lehman | 1975 | Queens | Professor of Accounting, Hofstra University |
| Helen Marshall | Queens | Queens Borough President | |
| Donna Orender | Queens | WNBA president | |
| Jerry Seinfeld | 1976 | Queens | actor and comedian |
| Charles Wang | Queens | founder of Computer Associates, owner of the New York Islanders | |
| Carl Andrews | Medgar Evers | New York state senator | |
| Yvette Clarke | Medgar Evers | Congresswoman, member of the United States House of Representatives from New York's 11th and 9th congressional districts | |
| Richard Carmona | 1973 | Bronx | Surgeon General of the United States |
| Kid Chaos | 1991 | Bronx | British rock Bassist and Guitarist who played in incarnations of hard rock bands such as The Cult |
| The Kid Mero | Bronx | Co-host of Desus & Mero | |
| Annabel Palma | 1991 | Bronx | NYC Council member, 2004–2017 |
| Cardi B | BMCC | Rapper | |
| Queen Latifah | BMCC | Singer-songwriter, rapper, actress, and producer | |
| Adam Saleh | BMCC | YouTuber and boxer | |
| Mirko Savone | BMCC | Italian voiceover actor | |
| Assata Shakur | BMCC | Former member of Black Liberation Army, 1970–1981 | |
| Gabourey Sidibe | BMCC | American actress | |
| Michael K. Williams | BMCC | American actor | |
| Riddick Bowe | Kingsborough | Professional boxer, 1989–2008 | |
| Mauriel Carty | Kingsborough | Anguillan sprinter | |
| Andrew Dice Clay | Kingsborough | Stand-up comedian, actor, musician and producer | |
| Pete Falcone | Kingsborough | Professional baseball pitcher | |
| Jeff Koinange | 1989 | Kingsborough | Journalist and host of Jeff Koinange Live |
| Phillipe Nover | Kingsborough | Mixed martial artist | |
| Larry Seabrook | 1972 | Kingsborough | NYC Council member, 2002–2012 |
| Aesha Waks | Kingsborough | Actress | |
| Khandi Alexander | Queensborough | Dancer, choreographer, and actress | |
| Sandra "Pepa" Denton | Queensborough | Rapper and songwriter, member of Salt-N-Pepa | |
| Cheryl "Salt" James | Queensborough | Rapper and songwriter, member of Salt-N-Pepa | |
| Nayan Padrai | Queensborough | Screenwriter, producer and director | |
| Joe Santagato | Queensborough | YouTuber, comedian and podcaster | |
| Elly Gross | 1993 | LaGuardia | A holocaust survivor and author of several Holocaust related books of poetry and prose |
| DJ JP | LaGuardia | The official DJ to Pop Smoke | |
| Reby Sky | LaGuardia | Professional wrestler and model | |
| Elliot Wilson | LaGuardia | Journalist, television producer, and magazine editor |
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