CUNY received $312 million in donations during the 2026 fiscal year, a 26% increase over the previous fiscal year—and historic for the institution. Apart from raised funds, CUNY received $2.8 billion from New York State and $833 million from New York City.

​The chancellor of CUNY, Félix Matos Rodríguez, insisted that taxpayer funds are insufficient to keep CUNY afloat because of increasing costs and complexity. Rodríguez said, “The reality is our [CUNY’s] costs have increased,” and “what the university does is becoming increasingly complex.”

​Typical revenue raising policies other colleges and universities employ, like raising tuition, would turn a path towards economic mobility for the city’s students into an unaffordable one that locks people out. A biannual student survey determined that around 8,000 CUNY students were homeless within the last year.

Since research grants have a designated purpose, grant funds cannot be reappropriated to fill CUNY’s budget needs.CUNY is stuck with finding donations to provide for its student body​

Rodríguez and the presidents of the 23 CUNY colleges and professional schools are rightfully evaluated on their ability to attract donations.

Donations are the future of higher education funding across the country, not just CUNY.

​University Business confirmed that a slump in federal funding led universities to entice private donors. CUNY is travelling down a familiar path. Many universities have seen similar contributions: Cornell University saw a $371.5 million pledge. Centre College saw a $225 million donation, and Washington University in St. Louis saw a $200 million donation.​

Unlike other universities that primarily focus on research and garner prestige from said research, CUNY is teaching oriented, so Rodríguez’s strategy for attracting deep pockets relies on storytelling. He said that a billionaire like MacKenzie Scott cannot be directly lobbied, so illustrating the core of the university system is how he “hopes to get on her radar.”