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Q&A

Chair Lee on CUNY Beyond funding levels

New York City Council · Jun 8, 2026 · starts 0:29:09 · 1 min 24 sec

Lee asks about CUNY Beyond funding levels and sources. Batista reports $2.2 million in FY26 and $12.5 million in FY27, combining state, city, and philanthropic funding following the ASAP model.

Linda Lee

For CUNY Beyond, what is the current funding level for CUNY Beyond in FY26 and 27?

Linda Lee

And what are the funding sources for the program?

Council Staff

I know I saw that.

Hector Batista

I can jump in.

Hector Batista

The budget level for CUNY Beyond is about 2.2 in 26 and about 12.5 in 27.

Linda Lee

Okay, 12.5 in FY27.

Félix Matos Rodríguez

And that is just a combination, I mean, of...

Félix Matos Rodríguez

State and city funding, we also, similarly to the strategy that we have with ASAP, if you remember the history of ASAP, we use a lot of philanthropic

Félix Matos Rodríguez

dollars to establish the model, establish the success of the model, and then make the case to you and to the state that it was a worthy investment.

Félix Matos Rodríguez

So we're doing similarly, we're aggressively recruiting funds philanthropically to be able to support that work, particularly some of the work that we do at the central office,

Félix Matos Rodríguez

hoping that we can prove that this is the right thing to do for our students and then hopefully make that case.

Félix Matos Rodríguez

So we're sort of following a similar strategy of how ASAP was supported, structured, and validated.