Program Overview

Introduction to CUNY Baccalaureate for Unique and Interdisciplinary Studies

CUNY Baccalaureate for Unique and Interdisciplinary Studies is a University-wide, individualized degree. The program is commonly known as CUNY BA, although it confers both the BA and BS degrees. Established in 1971, this special degree route was created in response to professors and students who believed that CUNY should allow individual faculty and students to define programs of study.

Program Goals

The program has several key goals:

• Encourage students to take advantage of the extraordinary resources and learning opportunities available at the City University's 18 colleges and at The Graduate Center;
• Allow self-directed, academically able students to design an individualized program of study that complements their academic, professional, and personal goals;
• Foster intellectual exploration and responsible educational innovation.

Program Details

CUNY BA provides students with a flexible, academically challenging way to earn their degree while giving them a major share of the responsibility for the content of that degree. It's an exciting, versatile, rewarding degree route for highly-motivated, self-directed students whose academic goals transcend traditional majors. Students create their own degree plans working directly with faculty mentors and academic advisors.

Admissions and Recruitment

Minimum eligibility requires at least 12 college credits completed with at least a 2.8 GPA and an idea for one (or two) viable individualized area(s) of concentration. The average GPA of admits has risen each year over the past 10 years, with cohorts now entering on average with a transfer GPA of 3.2 and 66 credits.

Enrollment and Retention

About 300 students, both full-time and part-time, are enrolled. In 2019, 62% were women, 47% were under-represented minorities, and more than half of the students were over 23 years old, with an average age of 28.4. CUNY BA students may be matriculated in a community college; at 68 credits, they must transfer to one of CUNY's senior colleges. Each CUNY BA student has an assigned full-time academic advisor from the CUNY BA office and chooses and works with at least one full-time faculty member who serves as their faculty mentor.

Graduation Rates

On average, students graduate in 2 years. Students graduate with a University-wide degree and alumni privileges at their home college. The graduation rate for more than 10 years has been over 70%. 66% of students graduated with academic honors over the last 5 years.

Faculty Mentors

Approximately full-time CUNY faculty members are serving as mentors to CUNY Baccalaureate students at any given time. Faculty members frequently report that mentoring students is a highly rewarding aspect of their career. CUNY's 7,600 full-time faculty members include world-renowned experts in virtually every field.

History

CUNY BA has been a part of the City University of New York for over 50 years. The program has a storied history, with an archive, an interactive timeline of the program's history, an academic calendar of changes pulled from the archive itself, and the document that founded the program.