As a growing proportion of New York City's population, immigrants and minorities have played a critical role in the city's economic development over the last two decades. While many immigrants arrive with skills, a significant portion are picking up their advanced skills and education while here. As the city’s only public institution of higher education, the City University of New York (CUNY) is the primary institution for postsecondary education for many newer residents. In order to better understand the role that CUNY plays in the education of these populations, the Community College Research Center has released two important reports on access to postsecondary opportunity and educational achievement at CUNY for immigrant and minority students, the largest proportion of which are of Hispanic origin.

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Performance, Graduation, and Transfer of Immigrants and Natives in City University of New York Community Colleges examines the experience of immigrants as well as native minorities in CUNY during the 1990s. CUNY responded to a widely publicized report on the future of the university, referred to as the Schmidt Report (1999), by implementing a policy that removed all developmental education from its four-year schools and placed it within its two-year schools. When fully implemented, this policy will increase the importance of the two-year programs. By understanding the relative roles of the two- and four-year schools in educating the foreign born, we can get a better idea about what influence this policy might have on the educational opportunities of the city's growing immigrant population. Findings from the study indicate that immigrants earn more credits and are more likely to complete an associate degree; however, they are not more likely to transfer or to complete a bachelor’s degree once they have transferred. Additionally, in contrast to indications in the research literature, this study found that minority status was less important than nativity in determining educational achievement.

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The enrollment of Hispanic students at the CUNY colleges has significantly increased in the last decade.  However, more still needs to be done to ensure that these students realize the opportunities offered by higher education. The report, Access and Achievement of Hispanics and Hispanic Immigrants in the Colleges of the City University of New York, details CCRC’s study using demographic, enrollment, credit accumulation, and outcome data from the 1990 and 2000 first-time student cohorts. Findings revealed that, relative to their proportions in the city, Hispanics at CUNY are over-represented by native-born students and under-represented by immigrants. In general, Hispanic attainment at CUNY is less than that of other populations, with the contrast between Hispanic and non-Hispanic immigrants greatest.  However, we found significant differences in access and achievement within Hispanic populations when differentiated by national origin. -Read the Press Release & Fact Sheet at: http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/Publication.asp?UID=411