NY high school students in top 10% of class to be automatically accepted to SUNY

New York students with grades and scores in the top 10% of their class will be automatically accepted to one of nine SUNY campuses, Gov. Kathy Hochul said on Thursday.

The direct admissions program, which will begin with students from New York City public schools and dozens of other districts, will eventually be expanded statewide.

“Access to higher education has the potential to transform New Yorkers’ lives and change the trajectory of a student’s life,” Hochul said.

The initiative is part of state and city leaders’ broader efforts to reduce barriers to college as new data shows freshman enrollment in higher education has declined for the first time in years. The decline was especially sharp for students from low-income families, which may be due to problems with the federal financial aid form FAFSA last year.

Participating campuses include the University at Albany, University at Buffalo, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, SUNY Geneseo, SUNY New Paltz, SUNY Oneonta, SUNY Polytechnic Institute, Purchase College and Stony Brook University.

In addition to being in the top 10% of their classes, students need to be on track to graduate with an advanced Regents or International Baccalaureate degree or show SAT, ACT or AP scores above a certain cutoff. SUNY will notify eligible seniors this fall.

The move comes as SUNY has fallen short of Hochul’s goal of enrolling 500,000 students systemwide. In fall 2023, 367,000 students enrolled.

Researchers have found that automatically admitting students succeeds in boosting applications, but does not necessarily translate into more enrollment.

In another effort to boost college access, SUNY, CUNY and over 50 other private New York colleges and universities are offering students a chance to apply for free through Nov. 3.

Additionally, CUNY is sending out “welcome letters” to all New York City public school seniors on track to graduate this spring, and waiving application fees until Nov. 15. “By sending these letters and waiving the application fees, we are reminding high school seniors that CUNY, with its incredible value proposition, is right on their doorstep offering an exceptional education for an affordable price,” said CUNY Chancellor Félix Matos Rodríguez.

All New York City public school graduates have guaranteed admission to CUNY’s community colleges.