CUNY Chancellor Claims Drop in Enrollment Leads to Hiring Freeze & Budget Cuts

By:  Hadassa Kalatizadeh

Drops in enrollment at the City University of New York have led to budget cuts and a hiring freeze.

As reported by the NY Post, CUNY Chancellor Felix Matos Rodriguez penned a memo to the college presidents and deans announcing the budget cuts on Saturday.  Rodriguez wrote that in order to close a deficit in the public university system, each of the schools needs to find at least 5 percent in savings next year.  CUNY is already projected to reduce its structural deficit from $234 million in the 2022 fiscal year to $194 million in the 2023 fiscal year, according to the memo. The university’s mid-year financial report, which was released in January, said the university system would only end the year without a deficit thanks to money from a federal stimulus package.  The report added that expenditures were expected to rise by 5 percent this year, while tuition revenues would drop by 4 percent.  “While the pandemic-fueled enrollment decline has slowed, there are still significant declines across the colleges,” the report said.

For the Fall of 2022, preliminary enrollment stood at 220,260, which is down 9 percent compared to the fall of 2021 when enrollment was 243,000.  “The City University of New York continues to look for cost-saving measures without cutting student services, efforts that will become increasingly important as federal pandemic stimulus money dries up,” CUNY spokesman Joseph Tirella said.  Tirella said CUNY recently launched an ad campaign called “Degrees Without Debt” to boast the school system’s affordability and to attract students.

In response, James Davis, the president of the Professional Staff Congress — a union which represents CUNY faculty and staff members —sent a message to his members, saying that CUNY should publicly advocate for more funding.  “CUNY colleges cannot sustain more cuts without severely undermining the student experience. Larger class size, fewer instructors, and less student-facing staff support will not help CUNY rebound from the pandemic,” Davis said. “What’s needed is immediate additional investment of public funds. City Hall and Albany must come through.”

One CUNY staffer, who wished to remain nameless told the Post, that the hiring freeze and budget cuts follow hefty raises doled out to university honchos in the fall. “The nerve of him to ask that after they raised each other salaries by more than 30% for some of them. That’s an insult to all of us,” the staffer said.  In November, the Post had reported that two top administrators, gained an extra $90,000 for their annual compensation.  Hector Batista, the public university system’s Chief Operating Officer, had his salary raised 27 percent, from $330,000 to $420,000.  Derek Davis, the senior vice counsel and general counsel got a 30 percent raise, from $300,000 to $390,000.

CUNY is the largest urban university system in the country, boasting 25 campuses, including eleven senior colleges, seven community colleges, and seven professional institutions.  While the CUNY system was established in 1961, some of the constituent colleges date back as far as 1847.  Colleges include Queens College, Brooklyn College, Baruch College, City College, College of Staten Island, Hunter College, Lehman College, and John Jay College of Criminal Justice, to name a few.