Chair Joseph on CDA bilingual program costs and outcomes

Okay, okay.

And what support do you provide once a student is enrolled in that program?

Well, one of the great things that the program gets to do is that they're immediately paired with a provider, right?

So you're building up first networks for the students in terms of employability, getting a sense of what that experience in the workplace is.

And then, you know, I think that we are becoming the go-to as all the scaling up happens for people to come seeking talent.

And we provide specific pre-service job training, and we assist with job matches as well.

The program was launched in 2025.

How is CUNY assessing the success of the program, and can you share any preliminary outcomes?

So I don't have an answer for that.

And I think the best thing to know is that there is wide demand for the program.

And I'll get back to you.

So one-year program.

So I have to sort of find out more about the evaluation component of it.

Absolutely, because that's how we're going to measure success if we should expand and how the investment is going to work.

And the part of the program includes the Child Development Associate, the CDA certificate, and it's fully funded.

And all of the apprentices enroll.

And so we can get you the completion data as a metric because all of them enroll in that credential.

And all of the credits in the program articulate to associates or bachelor's degrees if they then choose to go beyond for teaching.

And do you provide placements for students who are in the program once they're done?

Some of them are already working in centers.

Some of them are already working, but we do do job matches and job placements.

Great, thank you.

CUNY is also requesting $2 million over two years for the Child Development Associate Credit Bearing Program, which is a bilingual credit-bearing CDA program that provides 12 credits to participants.

What is the cost for a student who enrolls in this program?

Would the funds allow certification to be provided for free?

The answer to the second part of that question is yes.

Yes.

That I know.

In the first part?

That is the idea of the funding of the program, to be able to have them participate and get those credentials.

It's run through the School of Professional Studies, and there's been wide demand for it.

So it's $9,000 per student.

That includes tuition fees, the credential exam fees as well, the career advisement.

And that is the cost is also dependent on the number of students that are enrolled.

There were 105 students in fiscal year, 26 in the program.

And I do want to say that last year, 110 students graduated from the CDA certificate program, and of that, 19 were from the Spanish language CDA that we recently offered.

And that cohort was just started in fall 25, and already 19 graduated in that program.

Wonderful.

Thank you.

The credit transfers to the six associate and the bachelor degree programs, what are the six programs?

Sure.

So we have seven CUNY programs, Borough of Manhattan Community College, so BMCC, Hostos, Kingsborough, LaGuardia, Medgar.

CUNY SPS, and Bronx Community.

College.

Thank you for that.

The fiscal 2027 executive budget did not include a restoration of 10.1 million for CUNY, accelerated, complete, and engaged the ACE program.