Value proposition

First public institution of higher education in NYC, founded 1847. Ranked #1 in mobility index by Opportunity Insights.

Since 1847, The City College of New York has provided a high quality and affordable education to generations of New Yorkers in a wide variety of disciplines. CCNY embraces its role at the forefront of social change. It is ranked #1 by The Chronicle of Higher Education out of 369 selective public colleges in the United States on the overall mobility index. This measure reflects both access and outcomes, representing the likelihood that a student at CCNY can move up two or more income quintiles. In addition, the Center for world University Rankings places CCNY in the top 1.2% of universities worldwide in terms of academic excellence. More than 16,000 students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in eight professional schools and divisions, driven by significant funded research, creativity and scholarship. CCNY is as diverse, dynamic and visionary as New York City itself.

Outstanding programs in architecture, engineering, education and the liberal arts and sciences prepare our students for the future, and produce outstanding leaders in every field. Whether they are drawn to the traditional, like philosophy or sociology, or emerging fields like sonic arts or biomedical engineering, our baccalaureate graduates go on to graduate programs at Stanford, Columbia or MIT – or they stay right here in one of our 50 master's programs or our doctoral programs in engineering, the laboratory sciences, and psychology.

Nowhere else in the city do undergraduates have so many opportunities to conduct research with professors and publish and present their findings. In our science, engineering and social science programs, more than 300 undergrads work alongside senior researchers in funded projects.

Leading CUNY in funded research, we house a number of research centers.
Nearly all of our full-time faculty hold PhDs or—like our architecture faculty, maintain professional practices.Art professors exhibit their work, film professors make films, and music professors perform in venues

Architecture, Engineering, STEM Research, Social Sciences, Education, Liberal Arts, Science , Biomedical Education, and Translational Medicine