When I began my career at CUNY in 2003 as a newly hired assistant professor at Queens College, I was relieved to learn that the college offered low-cost child care on campus for students, staff and faculty. I was new to the area and trying to find child care for my toddler was daunting.
The Child Development Center allowed me to pursue my professional aspirations while my daughter was nearby and starting her academic journey. Twenty-three years later, I work in CUNY’s Central Office as the University’s executive vice chancellor and provost — and my daughter is a Queens College graduate.
Neither of us would have reached this point as easily without CUNY’s support, and I remain deeply grateful to the center’s dedicated staff who made it possible for both my daughter and me to thrive. No parent should have to sacrifice their educational or career ambitions because they cannot find affordable, quality child care. The University operates 17 campus-based child care centers across the five boroughs, with plans for an 18th at Queensborough Community College. Together, they provide quality care and preschool education that meet the needs of student-parents and their children.
These services, along with CUNY’s broader commitment to early childhood education, underpin the University’s role as the nation’s foremost engine of economic opportunity. Our child care centers help thousands of student-parents complete their degrees, while our academic programs prepare the next generation of teachers and child care professionals — addressing a critical workforce need in New York.
That work was on display earlier this month when Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez visited an early childhood development class at Borough of Manhattan Community College. The class qualifies for Governor Hochul’s initiative, CUNY Reconnect, to provide free community college for adults entering high-demand fields. And the students are preparing for careers that are urgently needed as Governor Hochul and Mayor Mamdani advance their goal of universal child care for 2-year-olds. CUNY is stepping up, expanding its early childhood education
pipeline to help meet the state’s needs. Thirteen CUNY colleges now enroll more than 3,600 students across some 50 early childhood programs at every degree level.
The University also operates the New York Early Childhood Professional Development Institute, which supports aspiring educators through 10 career-development centers statewide. In partnership with New York City’s Workforce Development Corporation, the institute recently launched the NYC Early Childhood Apprenticeship Program, placing aspiring child care workers in paid roles while they earn a tuition-free Child Development Associate certificate from the CUNY School of Professional Studies.
The Chancellor’s visit to BMCC reminded me of a day years ago when the Queens College president read to my daughter and her classmates in the college library. Her connection to Queens College ran so deep that she chose to enroll there, earning her bachelor’s degree in 2022.
Watching my daughter cross the stage at graduation — just feet from the playground where she once played — was a powerful reminder of the enduring support CUNY provides to generations of New York students and their families, including a University provost who would not be where she is today without CUNY’s early childhood initiatives.
Alicia M. Alvero was appointed as executive vice chancellor and University provost of CUNY in February 2026, becoming the first Latina to serve as the University’s chief academic officer. She began her 23-year career at CUNY on the faculty at Queens College and has served in a variety of leadership roles.