Baruch College is one of the senior colleges in the CUNY system. Its roots go back to the 1847 founding of the Free Academy, the first institution of free public higher education in the United States. The New York State Literature Fund was created to serve students who could not afford to enroll in New York City's private colleges. The Fund led to the creation of the Committee of the Board of Education of the City of New York, led by
Townsend Harris, J.S. Bosworth, and John L. Mason, which brought about the establishment of what would become the Free Academy, on
Lexington Avenue in Manhattan. The Free Academy became the College of the City of New York, now
The City College of New York (CCNY). In 1919, what would become Baruch College was established as
City College School of Business and Civic Administration. On December 15, 1928, the cornerstone was laid on the new building which would house the newly founded school. At this point, the school did not admit women. At the time it opened it was considered the biggest such school for the teaching of business education in the United States. , known as the Lawrence and Eris Field Building, is still in use today. By the 1930s, women were enrolled in the School of Business. The total enrollment at CCNY reached an all-time high of 40,000 students in 1935, and the School of Business had an enrollment of more than 1,700 students in the day session alone. In 1953, it was renamed the
Baruch School of Business in honor of
Bernard Baruch, an 1889 graduate of CCNY who went on to become a prominent financier and adviser to two presidents. In 1961, the New York State Education Law established the
City University of New York (CUNY) system. In 1968, the Baruch School of Business was spun off as
Baruch College, an independent senior college in the CUNY system. In 1967,
Percy Sutton, civil rights activist and Manhattan Borough President, proposed the relocation of Baruch College to a site in Harlem. This relocation would not only attract students of color but to create a space that would foster close interaction and socialization between students of color and their white peers. In a letter to the New York Times, Sutton addresses
institutional segregation: “The absence of opportunity for students of the ghetto to relate to the outside world in which they must one day work and live is a by-product of the nonspecialized and eventually segregated education institution”
Matthew Goldstein was president of the school from 1991 to 1998 (he later went on to serve as the
Chancellor of CUNY from 1999 to 2013). He was responsible for raising admissions requirements and creating the School of Public Affairs in 1994.
Edward Regan, former
comptroller of New York state, served as president from 2000 to 2004. During his tenure, test scores rose, student retention rates increased, and many new faculty members were hired. In 2001, the Vertical Campus opened and Baruch College accepted its first students from the CUNY Honors College, now known as the
Macaulay Honors College. The college also implemented a common core curriculum for all undergraduates.
Kathleen Waldron became the president in 2004. Under Waldron, Baruch College received large donations from its alumni, which resulted in the Vertical Campus, 23rd Street building, and Performing Arts complex being renamed in honor of the three largest donors respectively. Alumni giving has increased under "Baruch Means Business," a $150 million capital campaign. In August 2009, Waldron resigned from her position to become a University Professor at the
Graduate Center. Stan Altman, the former dean of the School of Public Affairs from 1999 to 2005, was named interim president. On February 22, 2010,
Mitchel Wallerstein, dean of the
Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at
Syracuse University, was appointed as the president of the college. He took office on August 2, 2010, and remained until June 30, 2020, after which he became a University Professor at CUNY. Under his leadership, Baruch College established degree programs with universities globally, ranked as a top college for social mobility, and achieved the best graduation rate within the CUNY system. Baruch College was the scene of student protests in 2011 as a result of tuition hikes resulting in arrests. In October 2025, the nearby
23rd Street subway station was renamed 23rd Street–Baruch College after the college.
Presidents of Baruch College ==Academics==