Committee on Higher Education meeting
March 20, 2026, 12:30 PM
The Committee on Higher Education held its FY2027 preliminary budget hearing on the City University of New York. The committee took testimony and recorded no votes.
What was discussed
- Chair Rita Joseph opens the CUNY preliminary budget hearing Chair Rita Joseph opened the Committee on Higher Education hearing on CUNY's FY2027 preliminary budget, describing CUNY's 26 colleges as an essential engine of economic mobility and noting that over 46,000 CUNY graduates entered the workforce or advanced study in 2024. She recognized colleagues
- CUNY witnesses sworn in Committee Counsel administered the oath to CUNY's witnesses before testimony began.
- CUNY's opening testimony on its FY27 budget and financial recovery Executive Vice Chancellor and University Provost Alicia Alvero and Chief Operating Officer Hector Batista testified on CUNY's FY2027 preliminary budget, with Batista reporting progress stabilizing CUNY's finances and addressing its structural deficit since last year, including enrollment gains and
- How does the lack of baseline funding affect CUNY's opportunity programs like ReConnect, ASAP, and ACE? Asked by Chair Rita Joseph how non-baselined funding affects programs like CUNY ReConnect and ACE, Executive Vice Chancellor Alicia Alvero said the year-to-year uncertainty makes it hard to recruit students for the following year, and Chief Financial Officer Ken Godiner cited FY2027 requests of
- How do CUNY's programs support men of color and the teacher pipeline? Asked by Chair Rita Joseph about the CUNY Fatherhood Academy and NYC Men Teach, Executive Vice Chancellor Alicia Alvero said the Fatherhood Academy enrolls 141 students on a $1M budget and that NYC Men Teach added 249 new students this year, capped at 600 annually by funding. She said both programs
- What is CUNY doing about student housing, food, and childcare insecurity? Asked by Chair Rita Joseph and Council Member Gale Brewer about basic-needs supports, Executive Vice Chancellor Alicia Alvero pointed to CUNY CARES (about $1M) for housing insecurity and the roughly $880,000 city food-security allocation, and Chief Operating Officer Hector Batista noted newly
- Is CUNY's enrollment recovering, and how is it handling vacancies and the savings mandate? Questioned by Finance Chair Linda Lee, Chief Financial Officer Ken Godiner and Chief Operating Officer Hector Batista said enrollment is rising but still about 30,000 below pre-pandemic levels, and that nine colleges came off fiscal-monitoring status through enrollment gains and shared services like
- How does CUNY support students with disabilities and their access to services? Asked by Council Member Farah Louis about disability supports, Chief Financial Officer Ken Godiner said CUNY is seeking just over $2.5M in additional funding, about $2M for its Accommodate system. Responding to Council Member Phil Wong on students who need services like speech therapy, Executive
- How is CUNY adapting workforce development and AI to a changing economy? Asked by Council Member Virginia Maloney about workforce development and AI, Executive Vice Chancellor Alicia Alvero said CUNY is expanding offerings to meet city demand, is hiring through a large philanthropic gift for AI, and that students who complete a paid internship are three times more likely
- How is CUNY implementing Local Law 18 and reporting on bias and mental health? Council Member Eric Dinowitz, sponsor of Local Law 18, pressed on its implementation and reporting; Executive Vice Chancellor Alicia Alvero said the NYCPS partnership is moving to an opt-out model, that a complaints report will be made public in October, and that the Chancellor finds quarterly
- How do CUNY's early-college pipelines (College Now, P-TECH, CUNY Prep) work and what do they cost? Asked by Chair Rita Joseph about dual-enrollment and early-college programs, Executive Vice Chancellor Alicia Alvero and Chief Financial Officer Ken Godiner reported nearly 31,000 students in College Now (about $17.9M), roughly 3,800 in Early College and 13,686 in P-TECH overall with 1,386 in NYC
- What are CUNY's faculty headcount, adjunct pay, and academic advising ratios? Asked by Chair Rita Joseph, Chief Financial Officer Ken Godiner said CUNY has about 7,150 full-time and 11,250 part-time faculty and touted the latest PSC contract's adjunct gains, while Executive Vice Chancellor Alicia Alvero said adjunct reliance varies by campus and department. Alvero put the
- What are CUNY's capital needs, deferred maintenance, and accessibility gaps? Asked by Chair Rita Joseph about CUNY's $200M capital request and aging buildings, Chief Operating Officer Hector Batista cited a facility assessment, about 672 active projects system-wide, and a shortened project timeline, and committed to providing lists of campuses with deferred maintenance such
- How does CUNY support foster youth, Black male students, and student mental health? Asked by Chair Rita Joseph, Executive Vice Chancellor Alicia Alvero and Chief Financial Officer Ken Godiner said the Foster Youth Success Initiative (about $3.6M in state funds) served 489 students in AY24-25 and that the CUNY Black Male Initiative ($3.5M) serves 7,566 students on 10 campuses. On
- How is CUNY protecting immigrant students amid ICE enforcement, and is Citizenship Now funded? Asked by Chair Rita Joseph about immigration enforcement, Executive Vice Chancellor Alicia Alvero and Chief Operating Officer Hector Batista said CUNY has immigration liaisons at every campus and that 12 affiliated individuals were detained, though none on campus. Citizenship Now Managing Attorney
- James Davis (PSC union) on protecting CUNY funding and faculty contracts James Davis, President of the Professional Staff Congress representing 30,000 CUNY faculty and staff, credited the Council with fending off nearly $100M in cuts under the prior administration and told Chair Joseph the latest contract was progress but still does not yet provide sufficient, fair
- Akkeem Polack (CUNY University Student Senate) on affordability beyond tuition Akkeem Polack, Chairperson of the CUNY University Student Senate and a CUNY trustee, testified that for most students the barriers are non-tuition costs, and pressed for investment including roughly $7.8M for assistive technology and disability supports.
- Damir Shavkatov (CUNY University Student Senate) on CUNY's return on investment Damir Shavkatov, Vice Chair for Senior College Affairs and a Brooklyn College student, testified that independent data ranks a CUNY degree among the best values in American higher education, citing Brooklyn College's number-one Forbes ranking for return on student investment.
- Julian Vera (CUNY University Student Senate) on students with disabilities Julian Vera, Vice Chair for Students with Disabilities and a City College graduate who identified as a student with an invisible disability, testified about the need for stronger accommodations and assistive technology for CUNY's disabled students.
- Josiah Ramesar (CUNY University Student Senate) on free OMNY cards for students Josiah Ramesar, Vice Chair for Graduate Affairs and a CUNY School of Law student, urged support for free OMNY cards for CUNY students, drawing on his own experience having had a student MetroCard growing up in Queens.
Agenda
1 item
- T2026-1381 New York City Council Budget and Oversight Hearings on The Preliminary Budget for Fiscal Year 2027, The Preliminary Capital Plan for Fiscal Years 2027-2030 and The Fiscal 2026 Preliminary Mayor’s Management Report 12:30 p.m. City University of New York 1:30 p.m. Public Hearing Held by Committee