As a high school senior in the Bronx last fall, Joeysha Pena was feeling overwhelmed by the prospect of applying to college. “I felt like I wasn’t mentally prepared,” Joeysha recalls.
But that began to change after she enrolled in a college and career class that met three times a week in the library of her school, the Bronx High School for Law, Government and Justice, thanks to CUNY’s partnership with New York City Public Schools to help the city’s high school students transition to CUNY colleges.
Joeysha began working one-on-one with Philip Baltazar, a recent Baruch College graduate who is one of more than 300 “near peer” CUNY college advisers and coaches working with public high school students across the city.
Early in the school year, Philip handed Joeysha a personalized “Welcome to CUNY” letter offering admission to any of the University’s seven community colleges and waiving the application fee. He advised her on options to pursue her desired career in law enforcement, helped her complete her CUNY application and FAFSA form and, tapping his own experience, helped her prepare for college life.
This fall, Joeysha is a first-year student at Borough of Manhattan Community College, on her way to a degree in criminal justice. She is also part of CUNY’s resurgent enrollment after the pandemic. The University’s total enrollment has grown each of the past two years, led this year by a 6% increase at our community colleges – big news because they were the hardest hit by the pandemic.
Again this fall, every high school senior in the city received that welcome letter and admissions offer. During our free application period, which ended Nov. 15, we received nearly 60,000 freshman applications and thousands of those prospective students are now getting the kind of help from CUNY advisers that Joeysha received. But CUNY’s partnership with the public schools goes far beyond career and enrollment guidance.
We also offer a wide array of programs, such as CUNY Early College and College Now, that enroll thousands of high school students in college-level courses that allow them to come to CUNY with credits in the bank.
Our booming recruitment efforts extend to prospective students of all ages, backgrounds and aspirations. In less than three years, our pioneering CUNY Reconnect program has brought back more than 40,000 New Yorkers who started college but left before earning a degree, including 8,000 this fall. This program was designed for adults with busy lives who want to complete a degree, earn a certificate or change careers.
Both CUNY Reconnect and our partnership programs with the public schools have demonstrated that personalized guidance has a real impact on students’ long-term success. And students who earn college credits in high school know from the start what it takes to be successful. They are more likely to stay in college and complete their degree than those who enroll in college without those experiences.
We also know that our college advisers and coaches help high school students feel confident about college because they are role models who come from the same communities and high schools as they do.
“I tell all my students, ‘Don’t go to college just to go to college,’” Philip says. “There are so many resources and opportunities to take advantage of at CUNY. Look for internships. Get the experiences that will help you on your career path. Even now, if I see an opportunity for Joeysha, I send it her way.”
Matos Rodríguez is the chancellor of The City University of New York (CUNY), the largest urban public university system in the United States.
