The Open Door versus the Revolving Door

Abstract

The door opened at Kingsborough Community College in September, 1970, and in walked a freshman class that was not too far from the size of the entire student enrollment of the preceding year. Many of them came without the usual trappings of the college student. There were some housewife-mothers who had earned high school equivalency diplomas, some students who had barely made it through high school (even in the least academically rigorous commercial or vocational programs), others who had spent several high-school years in homebound instruction because of mental or other illness. They were part of the new City University experiment in open admissions, a policy which guaranteed college admission to all New York City high school graduates regardless of their previous academic history. The City University of New York (CUNY) consists today of twenty member units. In 1970 there were eight community colleges and seven four-year colleges, including the prestigious City College, where the whole thing started. During the days which now seem like ancient history, when protesting students were vigorously engaged in changing the world, there arose at City College a demonstration