The Budget Advisory Committee of the CUNY University Faculty Senate has updated our study of faculty positions per 1,000 FTE students in CUNY and SUNY senior colleges. This version adds years 2018 and 2019 as IPEDs data is now available for those years. Click here to download a copy of the full study: The CUNY/SUNY Faculty Gap The “CUNY Rates Analysis” examines faculty per 1,000 FTE student rates across CUNY, providing an internal CUNY perspective about the rates presented in the comparative report.

The “Faculty Gap” continues. The study finds that, over the 17 years, SUNY senior college enrollment increased 7% (92,583 to 98,616) and full-time faculty increased 16% (3,970 to 4,595). At the same time CUNY senior college enrollment increased 33% (101,299 to 135,006) while full-time faculty increased 9% (4,264 to 4,649). SUNY’s faculty positions grew almost twice as fast as enrollment, while CUNY’s enrollments grew three times faster than CUNY’s faculty positions.

The study also finds that in NY state’s publicly funded senior colleges in 2019, white students had substantially greater opportunities for full-time faculty instruction, compared to Black and Hispanic students.

On the left side, campuses with the lowest percentages of Black and Hispanic students have the best ratios of faculty per thousand students. On the right side, campuses cluster with the highest percentages of Black and Hispanic students, with poor ratios of faculty per 1,000 students. Stated simply, in NY state’s publicly funded senior colleges, white students have substantially greater opportunities for full-time faculty instruction, compared to Black and Hispanic students.

The Faculty Gap did not exist in 2003. It gradually and consistently developed in the past 17 years. The current situation is educationally and morally unacceptable, and there is no historical explanation or excuse that can justify it. The study recommends that a first step toward remediation is honor the commitment to fully fund the Tuition Assistance Program. However,  an additional Faculty Gap funding initiative will also be needed to directly increase the number of professors at SUNY and CUNY campuses to meet a minimum target for faculty per 1,000 FTE students.