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.
Student services abound
The Student Center is home to student clubs, student government, and extra-curricular activities. The Library Café, the on-campus equivalent of an Internet café, is open 24/7. It houses computers (more than 1,000 computers are available to students overall on the campus), wireless portals for laptops, study rooms, lounge seating – and a Starbucks café. The YESS Center provides evening and graduate students with essential services after hours.
The expanded and refurbished Brooklyn College Library is the largest, most technologically advanced CUNY facility of its kind. Construction currently under way at the west end of the campus will culminate in a new grassy quadrangle and a building that consolidates under one roof all essential student services and state-of-the-art athletic facilities. Numerous other maintenance and renovation projects throughout the campus will ensure that Brooklyn College retains its reputation as one of the loveliest urban campuses in the nation.
Facts
- The Freshman Year College, which functions as a "college within the college," provides academic and social support that helps first-year students make that all-important transition to college life.
- Brooklyn College faculty members are highly trained scholars and dedicated teachers, more than 90 percent of who hold the highest degree in their field. Recent distinctions earned by Brooklyn faculty members include Fulbright and Guggenheim Fellowships, Pulitzer Prizes, and an Obie Award (for playwriting).
- At Brooklyn College, faculty members work with you - both in the classroom and on collaborative research projects. The College offers a large and growing number of research opportunities in all areas of the curriculum.
- Faculty members also work with one another, offering an ever-growing number of interdisciplinary courses.
- Brooklyn College has outstanding science facilities. Dozens of on-campus laboratory and research facilities support academic work in such fields as biology, chemistry, computer science, psychology, and the health sciences.
- Through MARC - Minority Access to Research Careers - Brooklyn College helps minority students gain hands-on research experience that leads to successful careers in science, medicine, and high technology.
- The Brooklyn College Scholars Program - the oldest honors program in the CUNY system - offers a variety of special programs for the College's most ambitious and highly qualified students.
- Brooklyn College Library - a fusion of neo-Georgian architecture and 21st-century technology - has 6.5 acres of floor space, holds 1.3 million volumes, and accommodates seating for more than 2,300.
- Brooklyn College offers a wide variety of extracurricular activities, including more than 130 student organizations. The College also sponsors fourteen NCAA Division III athletic teams and numerous intramural teams.
- Graduates of Brooklyn College lead successful lives. More than eighty percent of our graduates continue their education in graduate programs. Hundreds of our alumni hold positions as CEOs, presidents, and vice-presidents in the finance, business, and computer and information industries, and many more take on leadership roles in nonprofit organizations and government agencies. Many are listed in Who's Who in America and Who's Who Among American Women, including author Frank McCourt (Angela's Ashes) and U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer.
Special Programs
Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship
Coordinated B.A.-M.D. Program
William E. Macaulay Honors College
Early Admission for academically superior high school juniors
Preprofessional Studies
Dean's List Honors Research Program
Summer Latin/Greek Institute
Summer Studies Programs in Africa, China, India, Israel, and London
Study Abroad Programs in France and Israel
Special Baccalaureate Program for adults
Special Facilities
Research and Academic Facilities include: the Wolfe Institute of the Humanities; Institute of Studies in American Music; Applied Sciences Institute; research centers in nuclear theory, Africana studies, archaeology, child and adult development, computer music, health promotion, human relations, infant study, Italian-American studies, and Latino studies.
Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts
Computer Center
Interpersonal Communications Skills Center
Speech and Hearing Center
Women's Center
Learning Center
ESL Learning Center
Travel Directions
Subway:
Q (Brighton line) to Avenue H-East 16th Street, walk east to Bedford Avenue; #2 (7th Avenue express), #5 (Lexington Avenue express) to Flatbush Avenue.
Bus: Bus routes to Flatbush and Nostrand Avenue junction.
College Contacts
Admission:
Ms. Gina Priolo
Room 1103 James Hall
(718) 951-5001
adminqry@brooklyn.cuny.edu
Financial Aid:
Mr. Sherwood Johnson
Room 1306 James Hall
(718) 951-5051
sjohnson@brooklyn.cuny.edu
