Undergraduate enrollment in the United States has dropped sharply over the past decade, falling from 17.3 million students in 2010 to 14.1 million in 2023, a decline of nearly 20 percent that has alarmed educators and policymakers alike (NCES, 2024). Population shifts, rapid changes to the economy and broader debates about the value of higher education have all contributed to this trend (Belkin, 2024; Tough, 2023).
Against this backdrop, the City University of New York (CUNY) has implemented several innovative strategies to reverse this trend. These strategies are rooted in evidence that students are more likely to enroll and succeed in college when they experience college early, receive sustained guidance from trusted near-peers, encounter fewer financial and bureaucratic barriers and are supported by aligned systems working toward shared outcomes. CUNY implements this approach through three pillars: early exposure through college coursework in high school, proactive, personalized outreach centered on guaranteed admissions and transition support for all public-school students. These efforts are delivered through coordinated partnerships, robust data infrastructure and research-backed innovative strategies. Since fall 2023, these systemwide efforts have driven steady growth in applications and renewed enrollment increases, even amid national headwinds.
The depth and scale of the partnership between CUNY and New York City Public Schools, the largest urban public university system and the largest public school district in the nation, is what makes this success possible. CUNY serves more than 230,000 degree-seeking students across 26 campuses, while New York City Public Schools educates over 900,000 students across nearly 1,600 schools. Together, they span the full K–16 continuum for a majority of the city’s low-income, first-generation and racially diverse students. Their longstanding collaboration enables shared data infrastructure, aligned policies and coordinated outreach that transform what are often fragmented college access efforts into a coherent, citywide pathway to higher education.
Bringing College to High School Students
CUNY’s work with public school students begins with early exposure to college academics through dual enrollment, which allows high school students the opportunity to experience college courses and earn transferable credits. By taking college-level classes, students gain exposure to the expectations and culture of higher education, learn alongside peers who are similarly motivated and build confidence through successfully completing rigorous coursework. Furthermore, they can begin accumulating college credits, potentially reducing the time and cost required to earn a degree (Karp et al., 2007; Schaller et al., 2025). Grounded in this evidence, CUNY’s 40-year-old College Now program enables students to explore academic and career pathways, strengthen college readiness and earn free credits guaranteed to transfer across all CUNY colleges.
In the 2024-25 academic year, College Now served more than 30,000 students across 19 CUNY campuses and nearly 600 New York City high schools, with college-credit course enrollment increasing by 24 percent over the past five years (CUNY, 2026a). In fall 2024, over one third of first-time CUNY freshmen entered with dual enrollment credits (Office of Applied Research, Evaluation, and Data Analytics, 2024). Rigorous evidence also suggests that participation in College Now improves college access, persistence and completion (Liu et al., 2026), with particularly strong benefits for students historically underrepresented in higher education (Britton et al., 2019).
CUNY has also focused on dual-enrollment programs that are systemic rather than random acts of dual enrollment (Fink et al., 2022). These approaches provide transferable, core college credits and are designed to serve students across a wide range of pathways, from accelerated academic learning to career exposure. CUNY operates 19 Early College and PTECH high schools, enrolling over 4,000 students annually in accelerated pathways to associate degrees, and has expanded workforce-aligned dual enrollment courses through partnerships with New York City’s Department of Youth and Community Development and the FutureReadyNYC initiative.
Reaching Students with a Promise
As students enter their senior year, this early academic exposure to college coursework is paired with efforts to make college feel attainable. Beginning in fall 2023, in partnership with New York City Public Schools, CUNY began sending personalized Welcome to CUNY guaranteed admissions letters to public high school students, affirming that every graduate has a seat at a CUNY college. In fall 2025, the outreach shifted to email and went a step further, providing individualized information about college credits students had already earned and how those credits could apply to specific degree pathways, helping students envision themselves as college students and understand the value of their prior work (CUNY, 2025).
At the same time, CUNY reduced financial and bureaucratic barriers by offering application fee waivers during a month-long period for public school students and a two-week waiver window statewide. During the fall 2023 free application period, CUNY received a record 40,900 applications, a 386 percent increase over the same time in 2022 (CUNY, 2023). Momentum continued in fall 2024, when nearly 50,050 freshman applications, a 13 percent increase from the year before, and overall enrollment grew 3.8 percent for fall 2025 compared to fall 2024 (CUNY, 2026b).
Collectively, these trends suggest that reducing barriers and reaching students earlier in the decision-making process help convert interest into action, prompting more students to apply, apply earlier and ultimately enroll in college.
Guiding Students Forward Through Personalized, Near-Peer Advising
Beyond sparking interest in college and supporting academic readiness, students need guidance navigating the application and pre-matriculation process, particularly during the vulnerable summer after high school graduation, when admitted students must complete critical enrollment tasks that shape early college success. Research shows that high-touch, personalized advising is more effective and enduring than mass digital communication (Carrell & Sacerdote, 2017; Oreopoulos, 2021), with near-peer mentors especially impactful in providing both practical guidance and psychosocial support (Castleman & Page, 2015; McCallen et al., 2025).
Building on this evidence, CUNY launched College & Career Bridge for All (Bridge) in 2016, now the nation’s largest near-peer matriculation support program. Serving more than 50,000 graduates annually, Bridge operates from June through September, pairing students with trained college mentors, mostly New York City Public Schools alumni, who provide weekly personalized outreach. Mentors support students with financial aid and enrollment requirements, register for courses and navigate the often-overlooked logistical and emotional challenges of the transition to college. An impact evaluation found that students who connected with a Bridge mentor enrolled in college at rates 7 percentage points higher than comparable peers, with the strongest effects for Black, Hispanic and low-income students (Liu et al., 2024).
Observing the success of the summer bridge program, CUNY initiated the College & Career Advising Fellows in 2022 in partnership with New York City Public Schools, to provide sustained, year-long advising in high-need schools. From September through June, recent CUNY graduates serve full-time as near-peer advisors supporting students’ career exploration, postsecondary planning and application decisions. Although it is still too early to evaluate impact, early engagement data underscore the demand for year-round advising: 96 percent of seniors met with an advisor at least once and 60 percent of families engaged directly with an advisor.
Taken together, these initiatives illustrate how a public university system can respond to enrollment challenges by reimagining college access as a long-term, relational and system-level endeavor—meeting students early, supporting them consistently and making college possible at scale.
References
Belkin, D. (2024). Why Americans have lost faith in the value of college. The Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/us-news/education/why-americans-have-lost-faith-in-the-value-of-college-b6b635f2
Britton, T., Chelliah, B., Symns, M., & Campbell, V. (2019). College Now … or later: Measuring the effects of dual enrollment on postsecondary access and success. (EdWorkingPaper: 19–118). Retrieved from Annenberg Institute at Brown University: https://doi.org/10.26300/2wb0-ka92
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Liu, V. Y. T., Chelliah, B., Saunders, T., Ju, H., & Viera, C. (2026). The More the Merrier? The Dosage Effect of Dual Enrollment Credits Earned in High School on College Enrollment and Degree Completion?. Research in Higher Education, 67(1), 1. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-025-09872-4
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Schaller, T. K., Routon, P. W., Partridge, M. A., & Berry, R. (2025). A systematic review and meta-analysis of dual enrollment research. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice, 27(1), 263–289. https://doi.org/10.1177/15210251231170331
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The City University of New York. (2025, October 8). CUNY Sends Personalized “Welcome to CUNY” Letters to All City Public High School Seniors and Their Families. https://www.cuny.edu/news/cuny-sends-personalized-welcome-to-cuny-letters-to-all-city-public-high-school-seniors-and-their-families/
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