Gothamist: CUNY Is Back On Track

Samantha T

Mon, 24 Jul 2006 18:23:04 -0500

I was in a doctoral program at NYU and CUNY was very well-regarded. The only consolation I have for you is that if you're in academia, the opinions of other academics are the only ones that matter.

Jennifer

Mon, 24 Jul 2006 12:34:39 -0500

Thanks for throwing some love at CUNY. I second Dr. Big Apple's comments--as a current student at the Grad Center I often get blank stares from people outside academia when I tell them what school I'm attending. It's gratifying to hear from colleagues in my field that my department runs a tough (read: well-respected, rigorous) program, but I'm still waiting for the day when my Grad Center program receives a level of attention anywhere near the level of attention given to the same programs and NYU or Columbia.

Dr. Big Apple

Mon, 24 Jul 2006 11:23:32 -0500

ABC Girl, I don't think the suggestion is that $4K is chump change--that's real money! Rather, CUNY's tuition is far, far lower than most other universities' tuitions, and the relatively low debt burden a CUNY alum may come out with--let's say $15K rather than tens of thousands more or even 6 figues that an alum of a private U could end up with--may make it more appealing. And congratulations on the hard work for your degree.

ABC Girl

Mon, 24 Jul 2006 10:18:40 -0500

To all of you who keep saying $4K a year isn't much: I put myself through Hunter all 4 years, working full time 6 days a week and attending classes up until late evenings every weekday. That barely left time to sleep, eat or study. I made pretty much minimum wage the entire 4 years and with no supportive parents, I lived on my own so I had to worry about rent, food, etc. To top this off my minimum wage job provided no health insurance so I was constantly in fear of getting sick or hurt. I would get to a point where I would finally be able to catch up with the $4K I just paid and start saving the $4K I needed for the following semester. I always worrried about falling behind on savings because this didn't even cover books and other school related expenses. Adding insult to injury was the fact that I didn't qualify for tuition assistance. My senior year I simply could not keep up and took out a student loan which I'm almost finished paying off--I finally graduated in 2001. My blood, sweat and tears went into my diploma and while I'm happy with the way things turned out (I now have a great job and I'm financially stable), $4K a year is a very BIG deal for some people. Sadly I was not the only student dealing with my education this way. There's a bunch of us still working our butts off to make that $4K. And it's a big deal to us.

Kay

Mon, 24 Jul 2006 10:13:35 -0500

I don't know where the author got his information, but there hasn't been open enrollment in CUNY in 40 years.

Dr. Big Apple

Mon, 24 Jul 2006 09:50:50 -0500

I've got a PhD from the CUNY Graduate Center, and while my program is rated among the Top 10 nationally, few people outside academie understand where I studied for nearly a decade. My grandmother still thinks I went to NYU! (but I've got almost no debt from grad school, unlike my NYU colleagues) Go, CUNY!

Jack

Mon, 24 Jul 2006 02:08:03 -0500

There are now very big incentives for top students at Stuyvesant and Bronx Science to attend CCNY, and other CUNY schools. Free college and spending money vs 40-50k a year is quite a deal.

Samantha T

Sun, 23 Jul 2006 18:42:55 -0500

Love the crack reporting on academic standards in which the writer makes multiple spelling mistakes.

garth

Sun, 23 Jul 2006 17:24:41 -0500

I don't know if that's a fair assumption to make Jean. Just the fact that such an increase in the quality of applicants has occured is interesting, I think. If they're seeing an uptick of applications for the local science schools (Stuy, Bronx Sci, Brooklkyn Tech), which the Post article says they are, schools which have a limit on the number of school their students can apply to (it was seven at Stuy when I was there) that says something good about the state/reputation of CUNY.

Jean

Sun, 23 Jul 2006 17:17:44 -0500

This article is really silly since it does not mentioned if any of these bright kids are matriculated to CUNY. I am assuming since the Post article did not report those numbers that they must be really low.