High-Achieving Students Choose CUNY

Staff Report High-achieving students are continuing to enroll in record levels at the City University of New York, while more students are also on track to complete their degrees, according to a preliminary Fall 2012 enrollment report. The university continues to see record enrollment of students with high school averages over 85 this fall, with a 5 percent increase in that number over last year. CUNY's highly competitive Macaulay Honors College experienced more than a 35 percent increase in the number of applicants for this year, to a record 5,537 for 400 places. SAT scores of students entering Macaulay are above 1400, with a mean average grade-point average in excess of 93 percent-a student academic profile typical of Ivy League and other highly competitive institutions. In addition, at CUNY's five most competitive senior colleges-Baruch, Brooklyn, City, Hunter and Queens-almost 27 percent of freshmen entering this fall had SAT scores above 1200. Strengthened academic standards, stabilized University finances and CUNY's renewed reputation for both academic quality and great value in a challenging economy fuel the strong demand for a CUNY education. Overall, the number of students at CUNY colleges increased by close to 2,000. Chancellor Matthew Goldstein told the Board of Trustees on Sept. 24 that higher retention rates were "very much attributable to the focus and quality of the students" now applying to and entering CUNY's most competitive colleges. A total of 269,186 students are filling CUNY classrooms in Fall 2012, continuing 12 years of enrollment increases, according to preliminary university figures. Another 2,800 students were directed to pre-degree immersion programs to bring their skills up to college level. They included more than 740 in CUNY Start, an academic skills immersion program, and another 2,100 in the CUNY Language Immersion Program. Enrollment at CUNY's four-year baccalaureate colleges is slightly up this fall, as is undergraduate enrollment overall. A small dip in graduate-student enrollment is occurring in teacher-education programs amid a drop-off in teacher hiring. The City University of New York is the nation's leading urban public university. Founded in New York City in 1847 as the Free Academy, the University has 24 institutions: 11 senior colleges, seven community colleges, the William E. Macaulay Honors College at CUNY, the Graduate School and University Center, the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, the CUNY School of Law, the CUNY School of Professional Studies and the CUNY School of Public Health. The University serves over 269,000 degree credit students and 269,808 adult, continuing and professional education students. College Now, the University's academic enrichment program, is offered at CUNY campuses and more than 300 high schools throughout the five boroughs of New York City. The university offers online baccalaureate degrees through the School of Professional Studies and an individualized baccalaureate through the CUNY baccalaureate degree. More than 1 million visitors and 2 million page views are served each month by www.cuny.edu, the university's website.