New data points to a troubling decline in graduation rates across CUNY, with several measures falling sharply in recent years.
At the City University of New York’s community colleges, the completion rate for associate degrees—typically designed for full-time students to finish in two years—fell from 38.9% in 2022 to 35.5% in 2026, according to CUNY figures included in the Mayor’s Management Report.
Four-year CUNY colleges also recorded a steady drop. Their undergraduate graduation rate declined from 62% in 2022 to 55.6% during the most recent academic year.
The decline was even steeper within CUNY’s high-profile three-year Accelerated Study in Associate Programs, or ASAP. Graduation rates there dropped from 44% in 2022 to 34.5% in 2026—an overall decrease of nearly 22%.
ASAP is nationally recognized for giving students expanded academic advising, personal guidance and financial assistance designed to help them earn degrees within three years.
Former CUNY trustee Jeffrey Wiesenfeld described the situation as the result of “a two-pronged problem” in comments to The Post.
One factor, Wiesenfeld argued, is the declining academic preparation of students entering the university. “The New York City school system standards dropped dramatically,” he said, noting that most CUNY students graduate from the city’s public schools.
Wiesenfeld also contended that CUNY lowered its own academic standards after they were strengthened under former mayors Rudy Giuliani and Mike Bloomberg, as well as former Gov. George Pataki.
CUNY includes 26 institutions: 11 four-year undergraduate colleges, seven community colleges and eight graduate, honors and professional schools. Together, they offer more than 70 doctoral programs. In its report, the university said the continuing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is one reason graduation figures remain under pressure.
“Graduation-rate declines are still affected by the COVID-19 pandemic disruption and also reflect changes in the freshman class composition,” CUNY said.
A university spokesman added that graduation rates remain above levels from a decade ago, despite the major disruption experienced by freshmen who began college in 2019 as the pandemic took hold.
The spokesman said CUNY has seen retention improve among later incoming classes and is continuing to expand services intended to keep students on course to graduate within six years or less.
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Since the pandemic, CUNY said it has expanded freshman advising, simplified transfers between two-year and four-year campuses without the loss of credits and increased its use of student data to identify those needing help earlier.
The university also attributed part of ASAP’s lower graduation rate to the program’s rapid growth. Over three years, its share of full-time freshmen pursuing associate degrees rose from about 12% to 40%.
Even with that expansion, CUNY noted that ASAP students continue to graduate at roughly twice the rate of students who are not enrolled in the program.
Another concern is the declining share of students taught by full-time faculty. At four-year colleges, that figure fell from 40.9% in 2025 to 39.7% in 2026. Community colleges saw a drop from 60.5% to 58.9% over the same period.
As a result, a growing number of CUNY students are taking classes with part-time instructors or adjunct professors.
CUNY nonetheless continues to receive strong marks from independent organizations for helping students move into higher economic brackets, keeping college affordable and graduating students from lower-income families.
Washington Monthly placed six CUNY campuses among the 40 best colleges in the Northeast: Hunter College ranked No. 6, followed by City College at No. 19, Baruch College at No. 20, Lehman College at No. 26, Brooklyn College at No. 32 and John Jay College at No. 34.
CUNY also highlighted several other positive developments in its report.
Enrollment has risen since the COVID-19 outbreak.
Total enrollment recently increased 4%, from 237,671 in 2025 to 246,503 in 2026.
At its community colleges, total enrollment increased 7%, from 76,432 to 81,883.
First-time freshman enrollment at both community and four-year colleges increased. Community-college freshman enrollment increased 10%, from 13,167 to 14,433, and four-year college freshman enrollment increased 1%, from 22,323 to 22,543.
The one-year retention rates of freshmen pursuing associate and baccalaureate degrees both increased from 61.5% to 68.7% and from 83.2% to 85.4%, respectively.
