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Six-year systemwide graduation rate (%) – CUNY baccalaureate students
Improve student outcomes — Increase graduation rates
CUNY's six-year graduation rate for baccalaureate students has declined in each of the past three years, from 62.0% in Fiscal 2022 to 57.9% in Fiscal 2025. As with CUNY's other completion metrics, the decline coincides with a steep enrollment drop — community college enrollment fell to 66% of pre-pandemic levels — and City budget cuts of $155 million in Fiscal 2023 alone (235 lost positions), with a further $41 million in permanent annual cuts proposed for Fiscal 2024–2026 that the City Comptroller's office warns will further reduce course offerings and student support.
Researched July 17, 2026 — NYC Comptroller, "Cuts to CUNY", Center for an Urban Future, "Closing NYC's College Attainment Gap"
* Year to date — this fiscal year isn't complete, so it's not compared against prior years in the target/trend status above.
View as table
| Fiscal year | Actual | Target |
|---|---|---|
| FY22 | 62% | 60% |
| FY23 | 61.9% | Not available |
| FY24 | 60% | Not available |
| FY25 | 57.9% | Not available |
| FY26 (YTD) | Not available | Not available |
Why this is tracked
CUNY traces back to the Free Academy, chartered in 1847 with founder Townsend Harris's mandate to "open the doors to all" regardless of wealth, at a time when higher education was reserved for the affluent. Tuition stayed free for 129 years until New York City's 1975-76 fiscal crisis forced the policy's end. Today, nearly half of CUNY students come from households earning less than $20,000 a year, and research has found CUNY propels roughly six times as many low-income students into the middle class and beyond as all Ivy League colleges combined. Programs like CUNY ASAP have shown dramatically higher graduation rates than the university average, which is part of why the University has continued to invest in closing equity and completion gaps.
Origins and Formative Years - The City University of New York, New Study Confirms CUNY's Power As National Engine Of Economic Mobility - CUNY
Source: Office of Applied Research, Evaluation, and Data Analytics — via NYC Open Data: Mayor's Management Report, Agency Performance Indicators
Coverage shown: FY22–FY26, reported annually.
Definition: The percent of regularly admitted, full-time freshmen who earn a CUNY degree within six years of entry. For example, full-time, first-time, bachelor's degree-seeking students entering CUNY in Fall 2013 must earn a degree by August 2019 to be counted as having graduated. Graduation rates are reported for the fiscal year corresponding with the end of the six-year period.