Education Advocates and students came together in a CUNY Rising Alliance at City Hall this week. The Alliance wants Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio to make good on promises to protect New Yorkers by committing to a phase-in of a $2.5 billion dollar plan to fund free top quality education for all CUNY students.
Barbara Bowen of the Professional Staff Congress/CUNY says there is enough money to fund CUNY. "If the City and State care about the more than half million people who go to CUNY, who are largely Latino, African American, Asian people, who are largely people of color, poor people. If the City and State really care , then it is simple put the money in to make sure that CUNY students and their families have the education they deserve."
Today 60% of the city’s college-bound students enroll at a CUNY College. Many have remedial needs and have come from high schools which struggle to prepare students for college. 77% of undergraduate CUNY students are people of color, 38% are immigrants and 59% come from families with annual incomes less than $30,000. 38% of the families earn less than $20,000! These are families which couldn't afford the private college tuition cost of $32,000 or more a year. But the students are not receiving a top notch education compared to their private college peers, because resources are lacking.
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