Macaulay Honors College combines the supportive yet challenging environment of a small liberal arts college, the wide-ranging programs and intellectual resources of the country’s leading urban public research university, and the enormous cultural, scientific, business, and social opportunities of New York City. Upon admission to the Honors College, each student is designated a “Macaulay Scholar” and enrolled in the participating CUNY college selected during the application process.
As a Macaulay Scholar, you will receive substantial financial and academic support during your undergraduate years. Additionally, you are eligible to access an Opportunities Fund to expand your learning through experiences, such as study abroad, internships and research.
Beginning in your first semester, you will participate in four interdisciplinary City Seminars that combine traditional scholarly activity with hands-on experiences designed to deepen your understanding of the people, culture, history, and institutions of New York City.
A Cultural Passport gives you free or reduced admission to many of New York’s cultural landmarks and institutions. In addition, technological innovations are integrated throughout the curriculum, giving you opportunities to work with the latest tools of the digital age.
We supplement outstanding educational opportunities with dedicated advising and financial support, providing the assistance our talented students need to excel in New York City and the world, in college and in life.
Macaulay’s Vision
To inspire and prepare outstanding leaders to solve the social, economic, cultural, and scientific challenges of New York City and the world.
The Macaulay Mission
Macaulay is the Honors College of The City University of New York.
Embodying CUNY’s commitment to access and academic excellence, Macaulay Honors College offers the advantages of a small, personal liberal arts college with the world-class faculty and resources of a comprehensive, major urban research university. Macaulay students matriculate at one of the eight senior CUNY colleges that comprise the Macaulay consortium, but can also study at any of CUNY’s colleges or even the CUNY Graduate Center. Macaulay students complete four interdisciplinary City Seminars, exploring from multiple perspectives the city that is the source of our legacy, our vitality, and our opportunities.
Macaulay combines academic rigor with new adventures, blending traditional and innovative teaching and learning.
Macaulay students learn inside and outside of the classroom, amplifying what they have learned in the classroom by studying abroad, taking an internship in their field, or collaborating with a CUNY faculty member on a high-level research project. Our courses are experiential and collaborative, leading our students to explore the city together with their faculty—engaging the City as both classroom and laboratory. Our students learn and conduct research using the very best tools available and, in turn, share their findings with their peers, their instructors, and real-world audiences. As they graduate with a degree conferred jointly by Macaulay and their home campus, our students have not simply built a resumé; they have learned to pursue an active and productive life of the mind.
Macaulay is the vision and voice of a new generation of leaders.
Macaulay students and alumni are redefining leadership in myriad ways. Our students are more interested in creating traditions than in merely following them. They seek out and pursue new experiences and reach out to help and mentor students who come along behind them—among other ways through our burgeoning Macaulay Alumni Network.
Macaulay is freedom, resources, and support.
Macaulay’s tuition merit scholarship (available to in-state residents) and Opportunities Fund offer students the freedom to follow their passions and to explore the full range of academic offerings on their home campuses and throughout CUNY—without a student debt load that might otherwise inhibit their choices. Macaulay Honors College is committed to providing our students with an unmatched level of advisement and other resources that enable them to pursue their aspirations and make the most of what Macaulay, their home campus, and CUNY have to offer, and to implement their ideas in the real world both as students and graduates. We continually strive to improve and refine our offerings, with each member of the Macaulay team working to create something better for our students every day.
Macaulay builds on CUNY’s legacy of diversity, service, and civic engagement.
Macaulay faculty and staff are committed to providing an inclusive, anti-racist learning and living environment where diverse groups of talented students access the best qualities of a liberal arts college within a large comprehensive university. Our students draw strength from the rich heritage of diversity found on their various CUNY campuses. All Macaulay students render service to their various communities, and many go beyond these requirements to forge lasting relationships with community organizations. Our students draw meaningful connections between their scholarship and the communities in which we live.