The City University of New York, or CUNY, is the nation’s largest urban university, comprised of 11 senior colleges, 6 community colleges, a graduate school, a law school and a medical school. Nearly 200,000 students are enrolled in degree credit courses, and another 204,000 are enrolled in adult and continuing education courses at campuses located in all New York City boroughs.

CUNY traces its beginnings to the founding in 1847 of the Free Academy, which later became The City College, the first CUNY College. According to New York State Education Law, CUNY is "supported as an independent and integrated system of higher education on the assumption that the university will continue to maintain and expand its commitment to academic excellence and to the provision of equal access and opportunity for students, faculty and staff from all ethnic and racial groups and from both sexes." The law requires CUNY to "remain responsive to the needs of its urban setting and maintain its close articulation between senior and community college units."

The facilities at CUNY’s 19 modern campuses throughout the five boroughs of New York City include the traditional and the innovative. More than 270 buildings on close to 23 million square feet of space include state-of-the-art computer centers, science and language laboratories, gymnasiums, theaters, greenhouses, astronomy observatories, and many more features. The new Baruch College Vertical Campus on East 25th Street is the largest vertical campus facility in the city—approximately 800,000 gross square feet. The College of Staten Island’s bucolic 204-acre park-like campus is the largest college campus in New York City. The York College campus is the site of the $85 million Food and Drug Administration’s Northeastern Regional headquarters, where students are offered opportunities for study and internships.

CUNY has programs to strengthen academic skills and provide advanced placement courses. They include College Now ( currently operating in 200 New York City public high schools) the free pre-freshman Summer Skills Program, remedial classes in community colleges, English as a Second Language classes, SEEK and College Discovery (for economically and educationally disadvantaged students) and an intensive low-cost Language Immersion Program for entering freshmen who need to improve their English.