The College
Baruch College is part of a tradition that dates 160 years to the founding, in 1847, of the Free Academy, the very first free public institution of higher education in the nation. (Baruch’s landmark building at 23rd Street and Lexington Avenue occupies the site of the Free Academy). Established in 1919 as City College’s School of Business and Civic Administration, the school was renamed in 1953 in honor of Bernard M. Baruch—statesman, financier, and devoted alumnus. In 1968 the school became an independent senior college in The City University of New York (CUNY) system.
Today, a thriving, urban, multicultural institution and a senior college of CUNY, Baruch attracts motivated students of proven achievement who are seriously committed to making their dreams a reality. Their ability and drive, along with the superb, professional education for which Baruch is known, have established the College’s national and international reputation for excellence. In providing opportunity for these students, the College sustains the original mission of the Free Academy and the City University, adapting that mission to the needs of New York City, once a commercial hub, now a global corporate and financial powerhouse.
Baruch offers undergraduate and graduate programs of study through its three schools: the Zicklin School of Business, the largest and one of the most respected business schools in the nation; the Mildred and George Weissman School of Arts and Sciences; and Marxe School of Public and International Affairs. The College also offers non-degree and certificate programs through its Division of Continuing and Professional Studies.
Location
Situated on Lexington Avenue near the Flatiron/Gramercy Park district of Manhattan, Baruch College is in the heart of one of the world’s most dynamic financial and cultural centers. The College is within easy reach of Wall Street, Midtown, and the global headquarters of major companies, firms, and organizations. This “real-world classroom” adds immeasurably to the value of a Baruch education and offers unparalleled internship, career, and networking opportunities. Some of the nation’s top executives are Baruch alumni, and many of them regularly come to campus to share their expertise with current students.
Students
Baruch students come from 160 nations, reflecting the diversity of New York City. This mixture of people and life experiences creates a rich social and academic environment that enhances our students’ learning and truly prepares them for a global marketplace. Total enrollment is over 15,500, including nearly 3,000 graduate students.
Faculty and Staff
Baruch faculty are among the most distinguished and most widely known in their fields. They combine outstanding academic credentials with significant real-world experience. Approximately 500 teach full time, with about 95 percent holding a PhD or other terminal degree. Full-time faculty teach both entry-level and advanced courses and serve as advisors to student organizations and preprofessional programs. Adjunct faculty are typically drawn from New York City’s business and professional ranks. Baruch employs another 700 administrative and support personnel. Faculty members are regularly recognized with fellowships, grants, and awards from many notable foundations and public agencies.
Members of the faculty throughout the college are recognized for significant scholarly achievements at Baruch's annual celebration of faculty scholarship and creative achievement. Such achievements typically take the form of published books or articles in top-tier journals, edited books or journals, major grants received, or exhibitions or performances.
Academic Programs
Baruch College offers 23 undergraduate majors, 62 undergraduate minors, and 30 graduate-level specializations/programs through its three schools. The College confers the BBA, BA, and BS degrees at the undergraduate level and the MBA, MS, MPA, MIA, MSEd, MA, Executive MBA, Executive MS in finance, Executive MSILR, Executive MPA, and the Baruch/Mt. Sinai MBA in Health Care Administration on the graduate level. The College also houses the City University’s PhD in business and in industrial/organizational psychology and offers joint programs leading to the JD/MBA in conjunction with Brooklyn Law School.
Highlights
The Zicklin School of Business is the largest collegiate school of business in the nation and the only CUNY school that offers business programs accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, representing the highest standard of achievement for business schools world-wide.
The Mildred and George Weissman School of Arts and Sciences provides a broad-based arts and sciences education to all Baruch undergraduates. The school offers a unique undergraduate major that enables students to tailor individual interdisciplinary programs. Pre-med and biology majors have been admitted to top medical, dental, and veterinary schools in the U.S. and abroad. Whatever their major field, all undergraduates are required to complete an arts and sciences minor to earn a bachelor’s degree.
Named a flagship institution within the City University system, Marxe School of Public and International Affairs is widely recognized for its teaching, research, and service in the areas of municipal government, nonprofit administration, policy analysis and evaluation, health care policy, and educational administration.
Zicklin’s Full-Time Honors MBA Program attracts students from some of the most competitive universities in the nation.
Newman Vertical Campus
Designed to recreate the atmosphere of a traditional college campus in an urban setting, Baruch’s innovative, 17-floor Newman Vertical Campus serves as the hub of the College. Covering nearly an entire square block between Lexington and Third Avenues and 24th and 25th Streets, the 800,000-square-foot structure houses more than 100 high-technology classrooms and research facilities; faculty and administrative offices; executive conference facilities; a three-level Athletics and Recreation Complex; an expanded student activities center; the Marvin Antonowsky Performing Arts Complex, which comprises the Rose Nagelberg Theatre and Engelman Recital Hall; a 500-seat auditorium; a television studio; a food court; and a new campus bookstore. The Newman Vertical Campus has been honored by the American Institute of Architects with the highest award it offers to an individual building.
Information and Technology
The 1,450-seat, 330,000-square-foot William and Anita Newman Library, housed in the Information and Technology Building, directly opposite the new Newman Vertical Campus, provides the Baruch community with access to several hundred online databases and information resources in print and electronic formats. Users have access seven days a week to the library’s on-site computing facilities, as well as remote access from off-campus locations to thousands of full-text journals, newspapers, and books. A Web-based reference service, in which librarians answer questions via a “text chat,” is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In 2003, the library won the prestigious Excellence in Academic Libraries Award for best college library in the nation from the Association of College and Research Libraries. The Baruch Computing and Technology Center, also located in the Information and Technology Building, is the largest student computing center in New York City. It provides computer access to 250 students at a time.
Centers and Institutes
Baruch is home to several centers and institutes that support education and research in such key areas as business, finance, the global economy, public policy, social equity, and real estate and metropolitan development. Included among them are:
Arts and Culture
Baruch makes unique use of its advantageous location in the world’s arts capital, attracting a vast array of talent to its campus and organizing off-site arts programs and visits.
The Baruch Performing Arts Center (BPAC) serves the Baruch community by integrating the performing arts into the life of the College. The center reaches out to the arts community, serving as a venue for new projects and classic works and as a partner in their creation and development. Plays, concerts, dance, readings, and other events are scheduled throughout the year. Within BPAC is the Marvin Antonowsky Performing Arts Complex, which comprises the Rose Nagelberg Theatre, an innovative, modern black-box theatre with flexible seating; the Engelman Recital Hall, a 175-seat, world-class classical recital hall; rehearsal spaces; and a full theatrical workshop.
The Sidney Harman Writer-in-Residence Program brings notable literary figures to campus who teach master classes and offer special readings. Recent participants have included Tony Kushner, Jane Kramer, Lorrie Moore, Edward Albee, Agha Shahid Ali, John Edgar Wideman, Paul Auster, Philip Gourevitch, Anita Desai, Colum McCann, Ben Katchor, William Finnegan, Francisco Goldman, and Carol Muske-Dukes.
The Sidney Mishkin Gallery mounts regular, critically acclaimed art exhibitions.
The Alexander String Quartet, the first American quartet to win the London International String Quartet Competition, is in residence each semester, giving performances and visiting classes.
The Milt Hinton Jazz Perspectives Concert Series, named for the late Milt Hinton, renowned jazz bassist and Baruch faculty member, brings world-class jazz artists to Baruch for free performances each year. Past performers have included Ruth Brown, Billy Taylor, Slide Hampton, Jerry Gonzalez and The Fort Apache Band, and the Mingus Big Band.
Alumni
To a degree unusual among public academic institutions, Baruch College is strongly supported by its increasingly active alumni. Our alumni are helping to transform the future of the College: without their commitment, the College’s renewed commitment to excellence and its outstanding reputation would not be possible. Many Baruch alumni are modern-day captains of industry, leading major national and international firms. Some have returned to their alma mater to teach courses; others provide internships and employment opportunities for Baruch students.
Beginning with Bernard M. Baruch’s gift of $9 million in 1965, the College has flourished through the generosity of its many friends. In addition to strong support from the Field, Newman, Weissman and Zicklin families, gifts from a score of other alumni have allowed Baruch to create and enhance such programs and facilities as the Bert W. and Sandra Wasserman Trading Floor / Subotnick Financial Services Center, the Stan Ross Department of Accountancy, the Bernard L. Schwartz Communciation Institute, and the Max Berger Pre-Law Program. Other alumni-financed enhancements to the education Baruch provides include the Sidney Mishkin Gallery, , Marvin Antonowsky Performing Arts Center, Rosalyn and Irwin Engelman Recital Hall, Arline Nagelberg Theatre, Joel Cohen Career Services Initiative and Sidney Harman Writer-in-Residence program.
Alumni have also been extraordinarily generous to The Baruch College Fund, which supplements Baruch’s annual operating budget of approximately $150 million (derived from tuition and state revenues). The fund is used to recruit extraordinary faculty and support research, and to offer services and financial aid to talented students of limited means. The fund’s endowment rose from $6 million to $80 million over an eight-year period, and at the end of fiscal year 2022 the College’s overall endowment exceeded $160 million.