Urging Albany to Increase Funding for CUNY at the Higher Education Budget Hearing
President James Davis called for a $198 million increase in state funding for CUNY over and above the Governor’s executive budget for Fiscal Year 2026 as he testified alongside leaders of UUP and NYSUT at a legislative hearing about state funding for higher education. Click here for the PSC’s budget platform, which represents year one of a five-year plan to fund the New Deal for CUNY.
“Too many of our campuses are vastly understaffed, dependent on a patchwork of adjunct faculty and overworked professional staff. Students need more academic advisors and mental health counselors to help keep them on track to graduation. Older students who return to CUNY thanks to the Opportunity Promise scholarship will be in particular need of advisement and support. And we cannot improve students’ progress to completion without the full-time faculty staffing the courses students need to graduate. CUNY is short 5,000 full-time faculty. The Legislature should demand investments in faculty and staff this year and embrace the New Deal for CUNY’s five-year plan to end CUNY’s staffing crisis,” he testified.
Click here for President Davis’ full written testimony.
CUNY Needs a $198 Million Increase over the Governor’s FY 2026 Budget
Enacting the platform would cover year one of a five-year plan to fund the New Deal for CUNY and fill other critical budget needs.
Fully fund CUNY’s mandatory needs and invest in the people who make CUNY work. More faculty and staff are needed to increase graduation rates, advise and counsel students, and advance the vision of the New Deal for CUNY.
Enact the Share Our Wealth Platform to tax corporations and the ultra rich. Increase New York’s top tax rates for those earning over $5 million and over $25 million by 0.5%, and increase the corporate tax rate by 1.75% to generate up to $3 billion in new revenue.
Make progress toward free tuition by supporting the New York Opportunity Promise Scholarship. CUNY estimates that Governor Hochul’s scholarship, which would pay the costs of two-year college for certain applicants in high-demand fields, will bring 3,500 new students to CUNY.
Timeline
- February 26: Students, Faculty and Staff Rally with Legislators in for New York’s Public University Systems and Financial Aid
- February 25: Urging Albany to Increase Funding for CUNY at the Higher Education Budget Hearing
