Mayor Zohran Mamdani is giving New York City’s workforce a new shot at a college degree, without walking away from a steady paycheck. The Mayor’s Scholarship Program has been expanded to cover undergraduate degrees, meaning full-time city employees can now pursue associate and bachelor’s credentials while staying on the job. The Fall 2026 application window opened March 30 and runs through April 27, 2026, and workers have to go through their agencies and meet the admissions requirements of the schools they pick.
How to apply
The approval process tracks the same March 30 to April 27, 2026 timeline, but it is not as simple as firing off an email. Completed application packets must move up the chain through agency personnel officers and receive sign-off from agency heads before the Mayor’s Scholarship Program takes a look, according to the program’s application.
Applicants are required to submit three essays, proof of admission or enrollment and agency verification. Some agencies may layer on earlier internal deadlines, so anyone thinking about applying will want to check with their own HR before cutting it close.
The city has posted the full checklist and the degree-by-degree breakdown online in two key documents: the Mayor’s Scholarship Program application and the undergraduate offering guide.
Who’s on the list and who pays
The first wave of partner schools pairs city employees with a mix of public and private campuses. City Hall says the launch lineup includes Columbia University School of General Studies, the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies and Fordham University.
One key detail for taxpayers and applicants alike: the city is not picking up the tab directly. City Hall told Gothamist that participating colleges are the ones that determine and provide the awards.
The offering guide shows that award types can range from semester grants to tuition discounts, with amounts and eligibility rules changing from campus to campus. In practice, that means two employees in the same agency could get very different offers, depending on where they enroll.
Why it matters
For full-time city workers who have been juggling jobs, families and half-finished transcripts, the undergraduate expansion could remove a major obstacle to finally crossing the graduation stage while keeping pay and benefits intact. It also has the potential to widen promotion and training pipelines across agencies, since more staffers would be able to hit education requirements for higher-level roles.
Because the partner campuses, not the city, control the size and structure of the awards, the actual financial help will depend heavily on where an employee is admitted. City staff are encouraged to confirm that their chosen school is participating and to double-check submission rules with their agency personnel office as they assemble packets ahead of the April 27 deadline.
