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Council Member Eric Dinowitz opens hearing on CUNY's fiscal year 2026 preliminary budget
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Council Member Eric Dinowitz, chair of the committee on higher education, opens the hearing on CUNY's fiscal year 2026 preliminary budget. He outlines the key points to be discussed, including budget changes, funding needs, and the impact of various CUNY programs.
- Dinowitz highlights the $85 million decrease in CUNY's budget compared to last year's adopted budget.
- He emphasizes the importance of programs like CUNY Reconnect, ASAP, and ACE in making higher education accessible.
- The council member expresses interest in examining CUNY's capital budget, particularly for renovations at CUNY Hostos and other campuses in need of improvements.
Eric Dinowitz
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Thank you.
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Good afternoon everyone.
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I'm council member Eric Dinowitz, chair of the committee on higher education, proud CUNY alum, proud husband of a CUNY alum, proud brother of a CUNY alum, proud son of a CUNY we're a CUNY family, you could tell.
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Welcome to today's hearing on the city's fiscal twenty twenty six preliminary budget for for the City University of New York, CUNY.
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CUNY's fiscal twenty twenty six preliminary budget totals 1,280,000,000, which includes the funding of 916,000,000 in personal services to support over 6,000 full time positions and nearly 370,000,000 in other than personal services spending.
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In this preliminary plan, CUNY's budget has decreased by roughly $85,000,000 compared to last year's adopted budget.
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The difference is mainly the result of various CUNY programs not funded in fiscal twenty twenty six as well as the absence of a partial restoration to the program to eliminate the gap, the peg.
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CUNY has great and really impactful important programs like Reconnect, ASAP, and ACE.
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They are essential to ensuring that higher education remains accessible to all New Yorkers.
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The return on investment is clear, and we must continue to prioritize group that uplift underserved and marginalized communities.
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CUNY consists of 25 colleges throughout all five boroughs.
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At today's hearing, we will examine the university capital budget to ensure that it provides equity for repairs and maintenance across all colleges.
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I would like to emphasize the serious need for renovation at CUNY Hostos in The Bronx.
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I look forward to hearing about other CUNY colleges that are in need in of structural capital improvements as well.
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It is imperative that our campuses are kept up to date and attract new students, ensure safety, and academic success for all.
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CUNY plays a vital role in encouraging New Yorkers to pursue higher education, which contributes to making New York City vibrant.
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Regardless of the actions by the federal government, CUNY must continue to prioritize its mission of encouraging all potential students to access higher education.
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Programs like the blackmail initiative and the search for education elevation and knowledge or SEEK program must be prioritized by not only CUNY, but by the mayoral administration as well.
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At today's hearing, we hope to hear about the funding changes in this preliminary plan, CUNY's fiscal twenty twenty six budget needs, and CUNY's current vacancies.
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We will seek clarity on the impact of the federal administration's policies that may impact grants allocated to CUNY research.
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Furthermore, among other topics, we will analyze the proposed New York state fiscal twenty twenty six executive budget allocation to some CUNY programs.
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CUNY has the power to bring positive change to New York City, and we must continue to fund creative programs to better serve existing students and attract the prospective ones.
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In the speakers 2025 state of the city, she advocated for a couple of new initiatives including CUNY Flex.
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We would question the university to know whether they align with these proposed initiatives and how the budget prioritizes them as we move forward to the executive budget.
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I wish to thank our committee staff for their work in preparing for this budget hearing, including Ali Stouffer, Florentine Kibori, Regina Paul, Julia Goldsmith Pinkham, and my budget and legislation director, Adam Sarapoli.