About Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College is an innovative liberal arts institution with a history of academic excellence in both undergraduate and graduate studies. Since its founding in 1930, the College has offered men and women—many of them immigrants or the children of immigrants and often the first in their families to go to college—a high-quality, affordable education that allows them to build a richer life and a productive career. Noted for its outstanding faculty, for a beautiful campus, and a commitment "to be the best," Brooklyn College has been designated one of "America's Best Value Colleges" by the Princeton Review for many years.
Brooklyn College today is in a period of renewal. Over the last eight years, it has appointed some 250 new full-time faculty members—fully half of its full-time teaching faculty—who hold higher degrees from Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Oxford, and similarly prestigious universities. Among them are the Pulitzer Prize winners Edwin Burrows, a historian and co-author of Gotham; Michael Cunningham, author of The Hours, who directs the M.F.A. program in creative writing; and Paul Moses, a former editor at New York Newsday and Brooklyn College alumnus who has returned to teach in what is CUNY's oldest journalism program.
Our undergraduates are the pride of Brooklyn College. The entering freshman class of fall 2007 was larger than the previous freshman class and composed largely of students of traditional college age. The College's admissions criteria are increasingly selective, and high-achieving high school students apply in ever larger numbers for admission to the Macaulay Honors College at Brooklyn College, where they join other strong students from diverse backgrounds who make up the College's Honors Academy, a federation of nine honors programs.
The Core Curriculum is the College's signature program. Long a national model, it was revised and strengthened in 2006 and offers students an unrivaled general education. The On-Course Advantage (TOCA) enables dedicated students to graduate in the traditional four years by giving them priority at registration, guaranteed access to required courses, and one-on-one advising throughout their course of study. Brooklyn College is a student-centered campus; it has expanded its Center for Academic Advisement and Student Success in order to make appropriate advising available to all students.
As a public institution, Brooklyn College assumes public responsibilities. It has actively broadened its engagement with the surrounding neighborhood and with Brooklyn's cultural and social organizations, and partners with high schools throughout the borough. Its community newsletter brings campus services, facilities, and appropriate programs to the attention of Brooklyn residents.
A major capital construction and renovation program is currently in progress at Brooklyn College. Over the last fifteen years, New York State has allocated more than $500 million in capital funds to the College. The West Quad project, consisting of a new building to house student services and state-of-the-art physical education and athletic facilities and of a second spacious quadrangle, will be completed in late 2008. A new performing arts center and a new science complex are on the drawing boards of well-known architectural firms.
