Current Students

We are committed to providing the individual advice and assistance students need at every step throughout their degree programs. For more policy-oriented questions, see the Academics section. For scholarships, internships, leadership opportunities and more, see Opportunities. If you can’t find what you are looking for or have additional questions, reach out to your assigned academic advisor, who will serve as your primary point of contact at CUNY BA.

Academic Advisement

Academic advisors are available to answer questions about course work, requirements, mentors, and other matters related to their degrees. Each student is assigned an advisor based on their last name. The advisors conduct admissions appointments, credit checks, and graduation audits . They work by appointment but host virtual drop-in hours each week too. You can contact your advisor directly to schedule an appointment.

Portrait photo of Kate McPherson against a monochromatic mural of an old map

Kate McPherson, Senior Academic Advisor

Portrait phot of Rafal Szczurowski in his office.

Rafal Szczurowski, Academic Advisor

Areas of Concentration (AoCs)

An Area of Concentration (AoC) is a customized major that reflects your unique academic, professional, and personal goals. It’s more than just a list of courses—it’s a cohesive, evolving plan that tells your intellectual story. It is the cornerstone of a CUNY BA degree.

Finding Your Faculty Mentor

Finding your CUNY BA Faculty Mentor

Having a faculty mentor is central to CUNY Baccalaureate’s philosophy and structure. Securing a faculty mentor is your responsibility. You do not need to have a faculty mentor in order to apply to the program, but you will be required to have a mentor and submit your official area of concentration (AoC) form by the end of your first semester in CUNY BA.

You will need a faculty mentor for each area of concentration (AoC). If you are planning an interdisciplinary area, you will need a mentor from each discipline (e.g., for “Culinary Journalism,” you need a mentor in Culinary Arts and a mentor in Journalism).

Eligibility

Mentors must be full-time faculty members at a CUNY college (that is generally the rank of full, associate or assistant professor or lecturer), teaching in the same (or closely related) field as your area. We highly recommend that you maintain your relationships with adjunct faculty, but they cannot serve as official mentors.

Finding a mentor

Students find their mentors in different ways. You can:

ask a professor you like, from a class you are in now or one you’ve completed;
ask adjunct faculty to recommend or make introductions to full-time faculty members in your field of study
ask classmates about faculty members with whom they have had positive experiences;
reach out to relevant departments: speak to a department’s faculty advisor, chairperson, or program assistant for ideas;
research faculty members’ profiles (usually on department websites) to find out their areas of expertise.

And if one professor says they cannot do it, ask them for a referral.

It is important that your mentor be someone you find approachable and knowledgeable about your specific academic goals, someone who has the time to advise you and takes an interest in your studies. The mentor relationship that you build will be one of critical importance to your academic and career goals.

Close to 400 faculty members volunteer their time as mentors; new mentors are always welcomed. If you experience difficulty finding a mentor, consult your CUNY Baccalaureate Academic Advisor.

If a faculty member expresses an interest but wants to know more, explain what you know, and direct them to our faculty handbook, Partners in Learning. They may also consult the Academic Director, Dr. Jody Clark Vaisman, at jody.vaisman08@cunyba.cuny.edu or 212.817.8222.

Working with your mentor

Once you identify someone, schedule a meeting. Bring a copy of your personal statement and the outline of the courses you proposed in your application to the program so you are ready to discuss your goals. Be open to guidance and suggestions. Be prepared for all your interactions with your mentor — you both have very busy schedules. Any upper-level courses you have taken in your area prior to joining CUNY BA or prior to finding a mentor are still subject to the mentor’s approval.

Once the two of you agree on the courses, fill out the area of concentration form. Have your mentor sign it, make a copy for each of you, and email a copy to your academic advisor at CUNY BA. AoCs are due by the end of your first semester in the program; the due date is indicated on your degree contract. You may not change your mentor after this point, so choose wisely. Any course changes you need to make will have to be discussed with your mentor and approved by them in on a revised AoC form..

Find out if your mentor prefers to be in contact by email, phone, or in person (e.g., office hours). Sometimes faculty mentors supervise and evaluate independent studies, fieldwork, or research projects with their students; they also often advise students about graduate study and write letters of recommendation. Even if you don’t work with your mentor in these ways, keep them informed of your progress and activities at least once a semester.

AoC Narrative (Your Roadmap)

The AOC Narrative consists of five prompts: three about your AoC(s) and two about you as a learner. This is meant to be a functional document that helps you articulate the ideas, motivations, and goals that drive your AoC(s). It helps facilitate conversations with prospective faculty mentors and it helps the program's Academic Director better evaluate your AoC Form.

The AoC Narrative:

- Explains your goals and the meaning behind your choices.
- Acts as your “intellectual biography” or “statement of originality.”
- Helps you and others understand your academic path.

For more guidance, see our Area of Concentration (AoC) Narrative Guidelines.

AoC Form (Your Course Plan)

The AoC Form is where you list your title and at least:

8 intermediate and upper-level courses/ 24 credits in a single AoC or
6 intermediate and upper-level courses/18 credits in dual AoCs

As a general guideline, to be considered intermediate or upper-level, courses must have at least one pre-requisite within the same discipline. There are exceptions to this:

In the natural sciences (biology, chemistry and physics) we consider the first two levels (General 1 and 2) to be introductory for the purpose of an AoC.
In foreign languages, we consider the first four levels (Beginner 1 and 2 and Intermediate 1 and 2) to be introductory for the purpose of an AoC.

AoCs may include:

up to two independent study or internship courses
up to two graduate level courses

All courses in an AoC must:

be taken at a senior college (or in a graduate school); no community college courses can be included in an AoC
be taken in a department that offers a bachelors level major (or in a graduate department)
be taken for a letter grade
be completed with a grade of C- or better

At least 50% of the minimum requirements for an AoC must be completed in residence, meaning taken in CUNY while a CUNY BA student (at least 4 courses in a single AoC and at least 3 courses in a dual AoC).

Connecting Experiences

Area of Concentration Resources

Area of Concentration (AoC) Form

Guidelines for Using Independent Study in AoC

Area of Concentration (AoC) Narrative

Area of Concentration (AoC) Narrative Guidelines

Area of Concentration (AoC) Course Planner

Change of Area of Concentration (AoC) Form

Optional Annotated Bibliography Assignment

Program Handbook

Program Handbook 2025-2026

Download the Program Handbook (PDF)

As a CUNY BA student, the program handbook is a comprehensive resource created for you. It is available for you as a web page here:

CUNY BA Program Handbook

You can also download a PDF version by clicking the link below the handbook preview.

Current Students FAQs

Filing for Graduation

Graduation Audits

Students who have had their area of concentration forms approved and have completed between 90 and 100 credits must make an appointment with their academic advisor for a graduation audit. During the audit, students will

receive information about exactly what they need to do in order to graduate
complete an application for their diploma

This is the equivalent of “filing for graduation.” Students do not need to file for graduation at their home colleges. You should not wait until your last semester to have a graduation audit.

The absolute deadlines to file for graduation:

no later than March 1st for June graduation
no later than May 1st for September graduation
no later than October 1st for January graduation

These dates are only for degree processing and do not guarantee eligibility to participate in a given commencement ceremony.

Degrees are issued three times a year: on January 31 for students completing degree requirements in the fall semester, June 30 for students completing degree requirements in the spring semester and September 1 for students completing degree requirements during the summer session. Students who wish to complete their degree requirements during the winter session will receive their degree on June 30.

Requirements for Graduation:

Credit Requirements

Minimum total credits: 120 (Some students will need more than 120 credits to meet AOC, LAS, and Pathways requirements)
Minimum Liberal Arts and Science: at least 60 LAS credits (minimum for BS) or 90 LAS credits (minimum for BA)
Minimum of 8 courses/24 credits of intermediate and advanced level coursework for single AOC, or 6 courses/18 credits for each of your dual AOCs. Individual requirements are based on approved AOC form(s)
Completion of Pathways requirements
Minimum of 30 residency credits (credits of coursework taken in CUNY, excluding life experience and credit by exam, while you were a CUNY BA student)

Credit Restrictions

Non-Classroom Credit: Max 30 cr. from credit by exam (including CLEP); military, FDNY, NYPD, EMS, NPONSI credits; and life experience credits [a maximum of 15 credits]
Community College Credit: Max 68 cr. from community college courses for students who entered Summer 2011 or later; max of 60 cr. for students who entered prior to Summer 2011.

GPA Requirements

Overall GPA is at least 2.50 (unless admitted provisionally)
GPA within CUNY BA is at least 2.50
AOC GPA(s) is (are) at least 2.50

Other

Students cannot graduate with open grades (IP, PEN, INC, Z, etc.)
All grade changes must be made prior to completion of the degree

Any questions regarding these requirements can be directed to your academic advisor.

Useful Links

Registration

ePermit Instructions

CUNY BA students who wish to take a course at a CUNY school other than their home college will need to file for an ePermit. Once an ePermit is approved, students will be assigned an enrollment date at the host college and must register for the course in CUNYfirst.

Tuition for ePermits is billed by the home college and typically appears as CUNY BA- Permit and the corresponding number of credits.

Students who are in their first semester at their home college, do not yet have a GPA or have a GPA below 2.0, will not be able to submit ePermits through CUNYfirst. In such cases students can request a paper permit from their home college which can be scanned and emailed to CUNY BA to be signed.

A negative service indicator at your home college will prevent you from being eligible for an ePermit.

A separate ePermit should be submitted for each course; ePermits containing multiple courses will be rejected.

Please note that in the following examples Hunter College is the ‘home college’ and Brooklyn College is the ‘host college’ where the student is applying to take a course.

1. The system can be accessed by logging in to CUNYfirst, entering your Student Center and selecting the Records and Enrollment tile, then select the 'ePermit’ option on the left navigation menu:

1. Next you will select the term at your home college for which you wish to create an ePermit (note that you may see another school you are attending appear here but should always select your home college):

1. On the same screen, you will need to select the type of permit you wish to create. If the ePermit is for a course that has an equivalent at your home college, you will select ‘add ePermit with Equivalent Courses’ and follow this set of instructions; if your course does not have an equivalent at your home college please skip ahead to number 8 for instructions.

1. When you select ‘add ePermit with Equivalent Courses’ and click the continue button, you will be brought to the course catalog where you should select your home college as the institution on the dropdown menu:

Next you will select the home college equivalent of the course you wish to take at another school:

1. After making your course selection you will see the Course Detail screen where you will need to click on the ‘fetch equivalent CUNY courses’ button:

1. Now you will see a list of the schools that offer an equivalent course. You should check off the box in the ‘Request ePermit’ column for the course/school that you want to create an ePermit for and click on the ‘epermit form’ button below:

1. On the ePermit form screen, you should select ‘CUNY Baccalaureate’ from the ‘Permit Type’ menu. (Note that this is where you have an option to select ‘Winter’ if this is for a winter session course.) Then click the submit button to submit your ePermit.

1. If you are creating an ePermit for a course that does not have an equivalent at your home college, please select ‘add ePermit’ and click the continue button:

1. You will get an ePermit form where you will need to select ‘CUNY Baccalaureate’ on the ‘Permit Type’ menu:

1. Next you will use the drop-down menus to complete the permit form, selecting the college offering the course you would like to take, your ‘career,’ which is ‘Undergraduate,’ the subject and catalog number of your course. Once you have made these selections click the submit button.

To check the status of your ePermits, go back to the ‘Select Term’ screen and use the ‘Search ePermit’ option. You will be able to see a list of all ePermits and their current status. This is where you can keep track of approval, as the new system does not send emails to alert you about approved ePermits:

If you wish to cancel a permit, you can select it on this screen (above) and use the cancel button.

Once your ePermit is approved, you should see an enrollment appointment for the host college appear in CUNYfirst within a five business days.

Graduate Courses, Independent Study, Internships, Study Abroad, & School of Professional Studies

- For CUNY Baccalaureate to approve your request for a graduate-level course, you must have at least a 3.0 GPA overall and no incompletes, and your area of concentration form must have already been approved. You must email the CUNY BA Academic Director, asking for permission and providing him with written approval from graduate department or the professor teaching the class. There may be additional rules governing graduate courses at the colleges. Also: graduate courses taken for an undergraduate degree cannot ordinarily be applied later to a graduate degree.

- Students who have gotten prior approval from a faculty member for an independent study or internship should include these details in the "Comments to Approvers" box.

- If you are registering for study abroad via E-Permit, you are responsible for making sure that the specific courses you plan to take will transfer back to the host college. Note that in most cases, courses will transfer back with "CR" grades, not actual letter grades. (This is not a problem for CUNY BA.)

- Note that all courses offered through the School of Professional Studies are listed under the Online Baccalaureate (including regular classroom courses that are not part of the Online degree)

- CUNY BA students taking courses at the Graduate Center should request network accounts by filling out an “Account Request Form” at the Graduate Center help desk, for access to GC computers and printing.

- After completing Graduate Center courses, students are responsible for having the Graduate Center send official transcripts to their home colleges for financial aid purposes. There is no charge to request a transcript be sent from one CUNY school to another.

CUNY BA and Registering on Permit - University Standards

CUNY BA students are pursuing interdisciplinary or otherwise unique, individualized University-wide degrees. Accordingly, listed below are a few standard rules concerning CUNY BA students and ePermits:

*Students are not required to have course equivalencies for classes they want to take on permit.

*ePermits from CUNY BA students do not require faculty approval; only approval from the CUNY BA office is required.

*CUNY BA students do not need to meet the home college’s minimum criteria for ePermits (i.e., one semester completed at the college, or a certain GPA.)

*Students are allowed to take independent study courses, internship credits and study abroad credits at their home college as well as at a permit college.

* Students can register for graduate courses.

* CUNY BA students should be scheduled for registration appointments with the host college’s peer group (i.e., upper senior, lower senior, etc.)

*Each semester, a roster of CUNY BA students is sent to each home college. However, some CUNY BA students may not be coded correctly. College staff should check with the CUNY BA office before rejecting the epermit, specifically, Ann Marie Doering, 212-817-8231.

Taking Non-CUNY Courses

Students may take courses at colleges outside of CUNY toward their CUNY BA degree. Those colleges must be either regionally accredited or accredited by the New York State Department of Education. Courses taken at non-CUNY colleges for Areas of Concentration must be approved in advance by the faculty mentor and the program's Academic Director. Students must attain grades of “C” or better to transfer non-CUNY courses into the program. Non-CUNY courses will appear on the CUNY BA transcript as “Non-CUNY College” and with grades of “CR” (“credit”). Students are responsible for registering at the non-CUNY school, paying tuition there, submitting the course information on the CUNY BA registration forms, and arranging to have transcripts sent back to the program at the end of the semester. (Students must also remember that they are responsible for satisfying their 30 CUNY credit residency requirement and that non-CUNY college credit obviously does not satisfy any part of the residency requirement.)

Taking Graduate-Level Courses

Qualified students may take some graduate-level courses as part of their CUNY BA undergraduate program. Policies about admission of undergraduates into graduate-level courses vary from campus to campus and from discipline to discipline; students must comply with those policies. Interested students should speak to their CUNY BA academic advisor.

Eligibility

In addition to campus requirements, to be eligible, students must have:

a minimum GPA of 3.00
no open grades (such as “INC”) and
approved Area(s) of Concentration (AoC) on file with CUNY BA.

Registration

The academic department offering the course must be open to undergraduate students.
Students are required to get permission to take a graduate-level course from the professor teaching that course.
Once a student has faculty approval, they will seek CUNY BA approval one of two ways:
- Graduate-level course at home college:
  - Email your CUNY BA academic advisor to ask for permission
- Graduate-level course at another college:
  - Submit ePermit request for the course. This will be reviewed by CUNY BA and approval will be considered permission.
Faculty or their departments will enter permission into CUNYfirst so that the student can register.

Important notes

Students who receive an incomplete grade in a graduate-level course must successfully complete the course in order to be eligible to graduate.
If taking courses at the Graduate Center, after you register, you need proof of registration to obtain a Graduate Center ID card so you can have access to the library and a computer account.

Taking a Leave of Absence from CUNY BA

If you do not intend to register for classes in the fall or spring semester (this is not necessary for winter or summer sessions), please request a CUNY BA Leave of Absence by completing this form.

Returning to CUNY BA From a Leave of Absence

When you are ready to return to school the following semester, you will need to file an application for readmission at your home college (check the readmissions deadline dates on the college websites).

CUNY BA generally allows students to take a one semester Leave of Absence; if you have special circumstances, please discuss them with your CUNY BA advisor and we will work with you.

Viewing Your Record

Current CUNY students have access to unofficial student transcripts for each campus that they attended in CUNYfirst. These are typically acceptable to use for applications that ask for an unofficial or student copy of a transcript. Current CUNY BA students and alumni who graduated in June 2018 or later have access their unofficial CUNY BA transcripts in CUNYfirst. Students should use these records to track how many credits they have or what their GPA is in the program and consult with their academic advisor when they have questions.

To access your unofficial transcript for CUNY BA follow these steps:

Log into CUNYfirst and click on the "Student Records" tile
Click on the "Transcript and Verification" tile
Select "The Graduate School and University Center"
Under "Report Type" select CUNY BA Unofficial. (Please do not select Student Unofficial Transcript unless you want your Graduate Center record.)