Economy, finance, and budgets
The City University of New York faces a financial crisis comparable with the one that rocked it in the 1990s. Now, as then, the catalyst is a massive shortfall in state and city budgets. Combined, the governments of New York State and New York City, other local governments, and transportation authorities project a $59 billion shortfall into 2022—one of the deepest budget holes in the country. CUNY’s only salvation is to reduce its dependence on state funding, just as the nation’s most successful public universities started doing long ago. But how to do that amid a pandemic is a major challenge.