New York City’s FY26 Budget Begins to Right the Ship for CUNY Community Colleges

When Mayor Adams cut CUNY’s community colleges at the start of the pandemic, PSC members, our allies in the City Council, the People’s Plan, CUNY Rising Alliance, alongside students and community members, pushed to restore and grow CUNY’s budget.

After cuts of $96 million and more than 500 full-time jobs lost since FY20, the New York City Fiscal Year 2026 budget is the righting of the ship. PSC members have been teaching, advising, counseling, and supporting students with inadequate resources. This funding enables CUNY to build back positions lost to vacancies, and hiring should start now.

We are hopeful that with a strong state budget and our new collective bargaining agreement, PSC members will have the opportunity to continue building the University system that students and New York City deserve.

Additional wins in this year’s budget include:

• $109.5 million: $94.5M baselined, $15M in general operating funds from the City Council
• $10.1 million CUNY ACE
• $7.8 million CUNY Reconnect
• $5.5 million CUNY ASAP for All
• $5.5 million Research Institutes and the Research Foundation
• $2 million Social Work Fellows
• $1.2 million School of Labor and Urban Studies
• $1 million CUNY STEM
• We are grateful to see $3.1 million for CUNY Citizenship Now! and $150,000 for the New York Immigration Coalition’s work to protect immigrant New Yorkers during this time of unprecedented attacks on their rights.

We thank the New York City Council, especially its leader Speaker Adrienne Adams (whose CUNY Reconnect Program helped to boost CUNY) and Committee on Finance Chair Justin Brannan for his steadfast support of CUNY.

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Published: July 1, 2025