Since the COVID-19 pandemic, John Jay College and the entire CUNY system have grappled with low enrollment numbers, which has severely impacted funding. 

But John Jay College crossed a major enrollment milestone this fall in a quest to get back to pre-COVID enrollment levels. Boosting enrollment to where it was prior to the pandemic had been a major goal for college administrators to secure the financial future of the college. 

The Fall 2024 Semester proved to be a great sign for administrators as enrollment numbers for John Jay College continued to rise and have passed a significant milestone.

In the Fall 2019 semester, John Jay College had 2,056 first-time freshmen and 1,993 new transfer students. By Fall 2021 that number decreased to 1,770 first-time freshmen and 1,721 new transfer students. Last fall, the number of first-time freshmen rose to 2,033 while the number of new transfer students continued to dwindle to 1,274. 

Preliminary figures provided by the Office of the Registrar present a rise in both freshmen and transfer students.

Internal preliminary tallies count 2,131 freshmen and 1,362 transfer students enrolled at John Jay College for the Fall 2024 semester. While the official tallies won’t be made public until the spring, these preliminary numbers reveal freshmen enrollment not only rose, but it broke a major milestone of surpassing the enrollment numbers from Fall 2019. Additionally, for the first time since Fall 2019, the college achieved growth in transfer student enrollment.

Despite the cynicism present in many of the twenty-something-year-olds that make up a majority of the college’s student body, new students expressed optimism about John Jay College.

For Chloe Zhang, a freshman at John Jay majoring in forensic psychology, the attention her major receives from the school was a major draw. 

“Forensic psychology is a niche program and not a lot of schools offer it. John Jay has the number one program,” said Zhang.

Originally from the Chinese city of Shenzhen, Zhang spent most of her life in Texas before coming to New York City for college. 

“I kinda missed the city vibe, kind of another reason why I came here,” Zhang added. 

Gabrielle Montenegro, a forensic science major, also praised the opportunities and majors offered by John Jay, while making a point to mention the often-touted low cost of John Jay. 

“Their forensic science program is really good, and it was in state. Out of all the other colleges, it was also the cheapest,” said Montenegro. 

Like many other CUNYs, John Jay College prides itself on affordability, with full-time students from New York State only paying $7,470 per year. 

The college has made strong efforts in strengthening and promoting certain majors, such as those relating to forensics, in order to further progress this history. John Jay was ranked as number one in the nation for affordable psychology programs.  

Other than forensics, John Jay’s other fields of study remain draws for prospective students.

Abu Shirdik is a transfer student at John Jay majoring in cybersecurity. He expressed that John Jay’s cybersecurity program drew him to transfer to John Jay from Manhattan Community College. 

“This college provides a cybersecurity course and I was interested in that,” said Abu.

Adam Khder is also a transfer student who previously studied at the New York Institute of Technology and City College before transferring to John Jay to study cybersecurity. 

“The curriculum is better here. Over there [at the New York Institute of Technology] it’s focused on computer science. Over here, it’s on cybersecurity,” said Khder.

Students shared not only what drew them to John Jay, but also how their time on campus has gone so far.

Abu Shirdik and Adam Khder had nothing bad to say about the college.

“My time here’s been great. Love the campus,” said Shridik.

Montenegro also shared an overall positive view of her time with some minor criticisms.

“Since I have been here more than half of the semester, I feel a lot more comfortable being here. I am not so sure if I would change anything here; maybe more food options at the cafeteria?”

Montenegro may not be alone, as many have raised issues with John Jay’s new food vendor. 

Zhang—despite saying her time at John Jay has been mostly positive—took strong issue with student life on campus.

“As a person from out of state, I don’t know a lot of people. There’s not a lot of community here,” Zhang said.

John Jay is often described as a commuter school, with many of its students commuting to campus in Manhattan from other boroughs, or even outside of New York City, which leads to many students coming to campus for classes and leaving immediately after, which is making it difficult for students to meet new people.

Zhang said that the college could address some of these issues by doing more to encourage students to stay on campus even after their classes end for the day.

“More options for clubs would definitely help,” said Zhang.