(CUNY), at New York City; created in 1961 by combining the city's 17 municipal colleges. It includes Bernard M. Baruch College (1919; specializes in business studies), Brooklyn College (1930), City College (1847; the oldest member college), the College of Staten Island (1976; an amalgamation of Staten Island Community College and Richmond College), Hunter College (1870), John Jay College of Criminal Justice (1964), Herbert H. Lehman College (1931; until 1968 the Bronx campus of Hunter College), Medgar Evers College (1968), New York City Technical College (1946), Queens College (1937), York College (1966), several community colleges, and the Graduate School and University Center. Its combined libraries hold over 6 million volumes. The law school is at Queens College and Mount Sinai School of Medicine is affiliated. The university is city and state supported. From its founding until the New York City fiscal crisis peaked in 1976, students paid no tuition. In 1970, CUNY began an open enrollment program that includes counseling, tutoring, and financial aid. With more than 180,000 students, it is one of the largest university systems in the country.

See J. Traub, City on a Hill (1997).

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