New York Automatically Accepts Thousands of High School Grads to Community College

• In New York, 125,000 high school graduates will soon receive a letter notifying them that they've been accepted to a local State University of New York community college.
• New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said the automatic acceptance will help make college more accessible.
• The City University of New York is partnering with the city's public schools to send letters this fall to 65,000 high school seniors on track to graduate to inform them of their options.
• That partnership "will increase the number of seniors going to college, enhance New York's workforce and help end systemic inequities," CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez said in a press release.

More than 100,000 graduating seniors in New York have automatically been accepted to their local community college for fall 2023 as the state looks to expand access to higher education, officials announced June 1.

The State University of New York (SUNY) will send letters to 125,000 graduating students from outside of New York City confirming their automatic acceptance to a local community college this fall, according to a press release from Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul.

"Access to quality higher education is an engine for social mobility and we are taking comprehensive steps to ensure that college is affordable and accessible for students from all backgrounds," Hochul said in the release.

SUNY Chancellor John B. King Jr. said the letters will "make college an easy decision because our high school seniors and their parents understand their options."

"High-demand jobs increasingly require a college education, and thanks to New York's generous financial aid offerings, SUNY is an extraordinary value proposition," King said in the release.

That mass acceptance letter initiative pairs with efforts by the City University of New York (CUNY) to engage with students. This fall, CUNY is partnering with New York City public schools to send letters informing 65,000 students who are on pace to graduate about their college options at CUNY and how to apply.

CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez noted that more than 80% of CUNY's first-year students come from New York City public schools.

"This partnership will increase the number of seniors going to college, enhance New York's workforce and help end systemic inequities," Matos Rodríguez said in the release.

CUNY has stepped up its efforts to engage with high school seniors in recent years. BestColleges previously reported that a program pairing high school seniors with college student-mentors led to increased higher education enrollment rates.

CUNY's College and Career Bridge for All (CCB4A) pairs high school graduates with college students to cut back on "summer melt," wherein people who plan to go to college end up not attending. A CUNY study earlier this year found that the program saw an increased number of participants going to college compared to students who didn't participate in the program.

New York has also invested in efforts to increase college access for historically underserved students. Last year, for example, Hochul announced a $15.6 million state effort to expand childcare access on SUNY and CUNY campuses alike.