The City University of New York today announced a new policy that allows graduating New York City Public Schools (NYCPS) seniors who enlist in U.S. Armed Forces the exclusive ability to defer enrollment at a CUNY college for up to two years. The new system-wide CUNY Veterans’ Promise policy, effective with the current admissions cycle for fall 2026, is an extension of CUNY’s longstanding deferral policy — which allows any incoming student to postpone enrollment for up to one academic year for any reason — to provide an additional year of deferral for NYCPS graduates who enlist.

“With our CUNY Veterans’ Promise program, we are making sure that graduates of New York City Public Schools can complete their military service basic training with the assurance that they’ll have a place at CUNY on

See Full Page