Manufacturing has been replaced by the high-tech industries of the information age, in which jobs mostly require higher education. The offices that used to be empty are filled with Silicon Alley industries. The economy is thriving. The city's fortunes are inextricably bound to an institution that trains thousands of the teachers, nurses, computer programers and other skilled workers needed to make New York function. Labor economists say the more educated the work force, the more the city will be able to attract and retain businesses.
Educated workers have higher salaries and pay more in taxes, boosting the city's tax base.
Moreover, university statistics show that 80 percent of CUNY graduates stay in New York after graduation. The new chancellor, Matthew Goldstein, who took office in September, says CUNY must not be seen as a school of last resort for the poor, but one that is attractive to the middle class as well. To do that, he says, CUNY must raise admissions standards, eliminate remedial courses at the four-year colleges, and restore the luster of a CUNY degree. We must set high goals and more rigorous standards, Goldstein said. The result, Goldstein hopes, will be a university in which top departments rival the best anywhere, attracting high-caliber students.