William E. Macaulay Honors College

William E. Macaulay Honors College, commonly referred to as Macaulay Honors College or Macaulay, is a highly selective honors college for students at the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. The college awards full-tuition scholarships to all of its undergraduates (or a substantial partial scholarship to out-of-state students). For the class of 2020, there were 6,272 applicants for an enrollment of 537 students. The average high school GPA and SAT for the class of 2020 were 94.1% and 1414, respectively. Since 2016, the college has consistently received the highest rating for a public university honors college. Macaulay students have earned more than 250 prestigious awards, including 37 Fulbright Fellowships, 5 Truman Scholarships, 3 Rhodes Scholarships, and 28 National Science Foundation grants. Founding and history Macaulay was first conceived by Matthew Goldstein as an independent institution within the City University of New York. The aim of its creation was to increase educational standards and foster university-wide collaboration and excellence. However, support for existing honors programs at CUNY colleges amidst institutional opposition resulted in its launch in 2001 as CUNY Honors College in collaboration with a number of CUNY's senior colleges. Initially, there were five college partners: Baruch, Brooklyn, City, Hunter, and Queens Colleges. Later on, Lehman College, College of Staten Island, and John Jay College were added. Commonly known as Macaulay Honors College University Scholars Program, its first class graduated in 2005. The founding dean of Macaulay Honors College is Laura Schor, Professor of History at Hunter College and the CUNY Graduate Center, received her PhD in Modern European History at the University of Rochester in 1974. In July 2006, Ann Kirschner, a graduate of SUNY Buffalo, UVA, and Princeton University, was appointed Dean of Macaulay Honors College. In September 2006, The City University of New York received a $30,000,000 gift from philanthropist and City College alumnus, William E. Macaulay, chairman and chief executive officer of First Reserve Corporation. It is the largest single donation in the history of CUNY and helped finance the purchase of a landmark building on the Upper West Side of Manhattan that has become the permanent home of Macaulay Honors College, and will add support to its endowment.