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CUNY suffered tremendously in the 1970s when it dropped its standards to meet racial-equality agendas. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1981/11/

CUNY suffered tremendously in the 1970s when it dropped its standards to meet racial-equality agendas. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1981/11/09/once-poor-mans-harvard-now-lab-for-education-strategy/feed4874-c624-458b-a334-b9ba3fd06a62/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1981/11/09/o... Its reputation still isn’t what it was in the 1960s, though it’s not garbage tier like it was in the 1980s. Better to make trade schools more accessible and on par, rather than ruining college.

woodruffw 3y ago
I think it’s more accurate to say that CUNY suffered immensely under the budget cuts it underwent in the 1970s, cuts that were never fully rolled back. It’s impossible to extricate the CUNY system’s open admission challenges from the fact that it hasn’t been allowed to grow as an institution for close to half a century at this point.
- nobodyandproud 3y ago
  I’m afraid not. The white and Jewish students of the time didn’t flee because of costs, but because they were suddenly surrounded by students that weren’t at all prepared for college. Why pay for a sub-par experience? “Middle-class whites left CUNY in droves after tuition was imposed. Lavin said there was almost a feeling at the time that "CUNY is only worth going to if it's free." “Lavin and some others still at CUNY feel that the fiscal crunch gave the board an excuse to tighten admissions standards and impose proficiency tests in addition to charging tuition.” “George H. Hanford, president of the College Board, said his group was pushing high schools to improve programs so CUNY and other colleges won't have to spend so much time and money on remedial work. Half of today's entering college students requires such courses, he said.” The fiscal crunch allowed CUNY to make a slow recovery, though as I said before it never really recovered. The CUNY experiment of open enrollment was a failure. Contrast that to the formerly-free but still highly-selective Cooper Union.

woodruffw 3y ago

I think it’s more accurate to say that CUNY suffered immensely under the budget cuts it underwent in the 1970s, cuts that were never fully rolled back. It’s impossible to extricate the CUNY system’s open admission challenges from the fact that it hasn’t been allowed to grow as an institution for close to half a century at this point.

nobodyandproud 3y ago
I’m afraid not. The white and Jewish students of the time didn’t flee because of costs, but because they were suddenly surrounded by students that weren’t at all prepared for college. Why pay for a sub-par experience? “Middle-class whites left CUNY in droves after tuition was imposed. Lavin said there was almost a feeling at the time that "CUNY is only worth going to if it's free." “Lavin and some others still at CUNY feel that the fiscal crunch gave the board an excuse to tighten admissions standards and impose proficiency tests in addition to charging tuition.” “George H. Hanford, president of the College Board, said his group was pushing high schools to improve programs so CUNY and other colleges won't have to spend so much time and money on remedial work. Half of today's entering college students requires such courses, he said.” The fiscal crunch allowed CUNY to make a slow recovery, though as I said before it never really recovered. The CUNY experiment of open enrollment was a failure. Contrast that to the formerly-free but still highly-selective Cooper Union.