General Information
Admission to Undergraduate Degree Programs
Special Admission Categories
Lehman College accepts both entering freshmen and transfer students. The admission categories fall into two classifications: degree students (matriculants) and non-degree students (non-matriculants). A matriculant is a student who is admitted to a program leading to a degree. Undergraduate matriculants at Lehman, either full-time or part-time, may attend classes during any hours in which the College is in session. A non-degree student may enroll in credit-bearing courses on a space-available basis, but is not officially registered in a degree program and is not a candidate for a degree. Credits earned by such students may later be transferred to a degree program. Freshmen and transfer students who were educated outside the United States must file their applications through the University Application Processing Center (U.A.P.C.) year-round. Lehman College does not process late applications with foreign credentials.
Students who have not attended a college, university, or postsecondary institution are admitted through the University Application Processing Center (U.A.P.C.) as freshmen. The City University's application form can be accessed online at www.cuny.edu.
Freshman applications must be accompanied by a $65.00 application fee and official copies of any documents (for example, high school transcripts; G.E.D., S.A.T., and/or T.O.E.F.L. scores) that are needed to prove the student's eligibility for admission.
Admission is based on a variety of factors, and each applicant is considered individually. The minimum requirements for admission as a first-time entering freshman are as follows:
4 years of English
4 years of Social Studies
3 years of Mathematics
2 years of Foreign Language
2 years of Lab Science
1 year of Fine Arts
All students are subject to City University of New York testing requirements. For details, see the Office of Testing and Scholarships website at www.lehman.edu. An applicant who fails to meet all of the above criteria may still be considered for admission if she or he shows evidence of strong academic preparation, such as exceeding the minimum requirements in college preparatory classes, or strong performance on other assessments of academic skills, such as Regents examinations.
Applicants with a minimum total standard G.E.D. score of 3100 or higher on all five content area tests will be considered. Applicants educated in non-English speaking schools must score 500 or higher on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (T.O.E.F.L.) to be considered for admission. The above admission criteria are subject to change. Inquiries and appeals may be directed to Laurie Austin, director, Admissions and Recruitment, at 718-960-8706.
S.E.E.K. (Search for Education, Elevation, and Knowledge) is a New York State sponsored higher education opportunity program of CUNY. The program's special admission standards provide access to Lehman College and other City University senior colleges to talented and motivated high school graduates who do not meet traditional admission requirements. Students must also meet specific low-income requirements.
S.E.E.K. students receive specialized support services to enrich their academic career and personal development. Services include intensive instructional support, including tutoring, computer-assisted-instruction, study skills training, and small-group course reviews (supplemental instruction); academic counseling support; and a small amount of supplemental financial aid for college-related expenses, including college fees, books, and supplies. The amount of S.E.E.K. financial aid is based on individual need and fiscal availability. S.E.E.K. students are eligible for up to ten semesters of T.A.P. assistance, if needed.
Admitted S.E.E.K. freshmen are required to participate in a four-to-six-week enrichment pre-freshman summer program at the College before they enroll for their first semester of study. Once enrolled, they are required to maintain full-time matriculated day status, sustain a satisfactory academic standing, and participate in all recommended program support activities. S.E.E.K. students are eligible for up to ten semesters of S.E.E.K. sponsorship while working toward their bachelor's degree.
Freshman applicants who wish to be admitted under the Lehman College S.E.E.K. Program should file a CUNY Freshman Application and complete section four, entitled "S.E.E.K./C.D. Opportunity Programs." Freshman applicants should have no prior college experience. Freshman admission to S.E.E.K. occurs mostly in the fall semester. Transfer student applicants—those students who have attended another college, university, or post-secondary institution—may be eligible for admission as S.E.E.K. students if they have previously participated in S.E.E.K./C.D., E.O.P., or H.E.O.P. at CUNY, SUNY or New York state private institutions respectively. Transfer applicants should contact the S.E.E.K. Program.
Inquiries about the S.E.E.K. Program at Lehman College may be made to the S.E.E.K. Program Office at 718-960-7979 or seek@lehman.cuny.edu. More information about the program is available on the Lehman College website: www.lehman.edu.
Freshman applicants must take the CUNY Assessment Tests for admissions purposes. As of Fall 2001, entering students are required to pass all three CUNY Assessment Tests (reading, writing, and math1 and math2) before enrolling at Lehman and other senior colleges of The City University of New York. S.E.E.K. (Search for Education, Elevation, and Knowledge) students have one year to complete the CUNY test requirements.
Effective Fall 2003, all students admitted to a degree program are required to pass the University Proficiency Examination (C.P.E.) to demonstrate the skills proficiency necessary to advance from the lower division to the upper division once they have earned 45 credits. For information concerning the examination, contact the Office of Academic Testing and Scholarships, Shuster Hall, Room 205, 718-960-8156.
Transfer student applicants—-those students who have attended another college, university, or postsecondary institution—are admitted through the University Application Processing Center (U.A.P.C.). Transfer students can access the online application at www.cuny.edu. Transfer applications must be accompanied by a $70.00 application fee.
Transfer applicants must submit their high school transcripts and all official college and other postsecondary educational transcripts. Students who fail to provide all transcripts are subject to penalty.
All transfer students are subject to City University of New York testing requirements. For details, see the Office of Testing and Scholarships at www.lehman.edu.
The minimum requirements for transfer students are as follows:
These admission criteria are subject to change. Inquiries and appeals may be directed to Laurie Austin, director, Admissions and Recruitment, located in Shuster Hall, Room 161, or call 718-960-8706.
As of October 2008, all transfer applicants are required to show proficiency in all three CUNY Assessment Tests (reading, writing, math1 and math2) before being admitted to a senior college of CUNY.
The University has set the following standards for determining readiness to do college-level work:
To earn the bachelor's degree at Lehman, CUNY/SUNY associate degree graduates need to complete the courses required for the major/minor, two upper-division interdisciplinary courses, one writing-intensive course, and elective courses if needed to meet the minimum 120-credit requirement.
CUNY/SUNY Associate Degree graduates who have substantial liberal arts and sciences credits from their community colleges will generally need only 60 credits to complete the Lehman bachelor's degree. Students transferring fewer liberal arts and sciences credits to Lehman from their associate degree programs may need more than 60 Lehman credits to meet New York State education regulations. New York State education regulations mandate a minimum of 90 liberal arts and sciences credits for the B.A., 60 credits for the B.S., and 30 for the B.F.A. and B.B.A.
Second Degree students are exempt from taking the CUNY Assessment Tests and the CUNY Proficiency Exam (C.P.E.).
The submission of documents in support of applications for admission, such as transcripts, diplomas, test scores, references, or the applications themselves, that are forged, fraudulent, altered from the original, obtained under false pretenses, or otherwise deceptive is prohibited and is punishable by a five-year ban on applying for admission or a five-year suspension from CUNY. A second violation is punishable by a lifetime ban on applying for admission or expulsion from CUNY.
The College reserves the right to deny admission to any student if, in its judgment, the presence of that student on campus poses an undue risk to the safety or security of the college or the college community. That judgment will be based on an individualized determination, taking into account any information the college has about a student's criminal record and the particular circumstances of the college, including the presence of a child care center, a public school or public school students on the campus.
Applicants who wish to receive admission information
should consult the following offices:
Lehman College
Undergraduate Office of Admissions
Shuster Hall, Room 161
Phone: 718-960-8713
City University Office of Admission Services
1114 Ave. of the Americas, 15th Floor
New York, NY 10036
Phone: 212-997-CUNY (2869)
All students who wish to become candidates for the B.A. degree in Social Work shall have completed 48 credits, including SWK 237 (Introduction to Social Work) and SOC 166 (Fundamentals of Sociology), achieved a minimum cumulative index of 2.7, and submitted an application to the Social Work Program.
Persons interested in the Program in Social Work should request a Program brochure and application from the Office of the Director (Carman Hall, Room B-18, 718-960-8418).
Students may qualify for the New York State resident tuition rate by proving that they have resided within New York State for the twelve-month period preceding the first day of classes and that they either are U.S. citizens or permanent residents or that they possess an eligible non-immigrant alien status. Residency forms and a list of the documents that may be used to prove residency can be obtained in the Office of Admissions, Shuster Hall, Room 161. Failure to provide this documentation results in classification as a non-New York State resident and a tuition assessment at the out-of-state tuition rate.
All students who wish to become candidates for the B.S. in Nursing degree are required to take a prenursing sequence of courses in which they must achieve a minimum of a 2.75 index in the required science courses, attain basic skills levels set by the Department of Nursing, be in good academic standing in the College, and meet any other criteria established by the Department of Nursing. Students are admitted at the start of their junior year to the B.S. in Nursing Program on a space-available basis. All candidates for the Program in Nursing should request, prior to admission to the College, copies of the Departmental curriculum and the brochure, "Nursing at Lehman," available in the Department of Nursing (T-3 Building, Room 209, 718-960-8374).
Freshman applicants to Prenursing are admitted through the University Application Processing Center (U.A.P.C.) by the usual City University admission procedure. U.A.P.C. determines eligibility by the uniform admission standards applied to all Lehman freshman applicants.
City University A.A.S. nursing graduates are allocated by the University Application Processing Center (U.A.P.C.) to Lehman College on the basis of space availability, Grade Point Average, and success on the National Council Licensing Examination (N.C.L.E.X.). Other transfer students must satisfy these same eligibility requirements. Applicants who attended a hospital school of nursing and have earned no previous college credits should file the transfer application through U.A.P.C. Those who have earned previous college credits, in addition to having attended a hospital school of nursing, should also file a transfer application through U.A.P.C. To earn credit for courses taken at a hospital school of nursing, students must (1) present a license to practice as a registered nurse and (2) earn credits from Excelsior College (formerly Regents College) by examination in specific nursing courses.
Former Lehman students must file a re-admit application with the Office of Admissions (Shuster Hall, Room 161). Eligible students who do not have stops on their record, have a 2.0 G.P.A. or greater, and are in test compliance may apply. Applications may be obtained online at www.lehman.edu/provost/admissions/pdf/readmitu.pdf or in person in the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, Shuster Hall 161. The completed application and a $10.00 non-refundable processing fee should be submitted before the end of registration; official transcripts of any coursework completed during his or her absence also must be submitted with the application in order to be accepted for credit evaluation.
Former students who were dropped by the College for poor scholarship must file an appeal for readmission. The deadline dates are December 15 for the Spring semester and July 31 for the Fall semester. The appeal should be filed with the Office of Academic Standards and Evaluation, Shuster Hall, Room 280.
The admission requirements for non-degree students are the same as the admission requirements for matriculants. (See "Admission Requirements for Freshmen" and "Admission Requirements for Transfer Students.") Non-degree students (non-matriculants) must apply directly to the Lehman College Admissions Office. The deadline for all non-degree admissions is the last day of registration.
CUNY students who are pursuing a degree at another CUNY college who wish to take courses at Lehman on a non-degree basis must request a CUNY e-permit online at www.cuny.edu from their home college in order to attend Lehman. Tuition for courses taken at Lehman is paid at the student's home college. The student will not be required to submit any fees Lehman College.
Non-CUNY students who are attending a non-CUNY college must submit an unofficial copy of their college transcript or a letter from their primary college to the Lehman Admissions Office that verifies their current enrollment and good academic standing. Visiting students must file an application for Visiting College Students and pay a $65 application processing fee. Returning visiting students will pay a $10 readmission fee.
Permission to register as a visiting student is valid for only one semester at a time. Students who wish to renew their status as visiting students must submit new documentation from their primary colleges for each succeeding semester.
International students who are neither U.S. citizens nor permanent residents must file the appropriate freshman or transfer student application and meet the corresponding admission requirements. (See "Admission Requirements for Freshmen" and "Admission Requirements for Transfer Students" in this Bulletin.) In addition, those students who were educated in a language other than English are required to submit a minimum T.O.E.F.L. score of 500 on the paper exam.
Once the student has been admitted to Lehman by the University Admissions Processing Center (U.A.P.C.), he or she will be asked to submit financial and other documents that will satisfy the requirements for the I-20 form. Once the I-20 form is sent, the student must present the form to the American embassy or consulate in his or her home country in order to obtain an F-1 visa.
All applicants, including those who are U.S. citizens and permanent residents, may be classified as international students for admissions processing purposes if their education has taken place outside the United States. These applicants must submit their applications and transcripts through U.A.P.C.; they may not apply directly through the College during Direct Admissions periods. All non-English transcripts must be accompanied by an official translation into English as defined by City University guidelines.
The City University maintains a special outreach program for returning veterans who might not be familiar with the opportunities for college study open to them.
Veterans desiring to avail themselves of the benefits provided under Public Law 89-358 may register at Lehman as matriculants, paying tuition and fees. If they matriculate, the College may allow them up to eight credits for United States Armed Forces Institute courses in which they have passed final examinations.
Matriculated veterans of the U.S. armed forces who (a) have paid tuition and fees, (b) are upper-division students (an upper-division student is one who has received passing grades in courses representing 61 or more credits), and (c) have satisfactorily completed a minimum of 30 credits at Lehman will be awarded credit, but must file an application in order to receive it.
The Veterans Counseling Service (Shuster Hall, Room 205) advises veterans on the benefits for which they are eligible. The application form for benefits to be paid by the Veterans Administration may be obtained in the Office of the Registrar (Shuster Hall, Room 114).
Lehman College accepts candidates for a second undergraduate degree when the second degree represents preparation discrete from the first bachelor's degree. Candidates must complete a minimum of 30 credits in residence (see the definition of residence credits under the heading of "Credit Requirements" in this Bulletin). Second-degree applicants must file the City University Transfer Student Application.
College Now is a collaborative initiative of the City University of New York and the New York City Department of Education. Its primary goals are to improve the academic achievement of high school students and to help New York City public high school students meet or exceed the requirements for high school graduation and the admissions requirements for baccalaureate degree programs at the City University of New York. College Now also seeks to provide underprepared high school students with the enriched instruction and enhanced support services they need to do well in high school and to be prepared for college.
In most cases, a public high school partners with a CUNY college to design a program of academic and preparatory courses and workshops. Lehman is currently partnered with over fourteen high schools in the Bronx. College Now also offers two summer programs and professional development opportunities for teachers.
High school students can attend a variety of on-campus activities and, depending on their qualifications, choose from the following courses and workshops:
Each college/high school partnership develops its own course offerings based on the needs of the student population at a particular school and the strengths and resources of the institutions involved. Students who enroll in college credit courses must pass the E.L.A. or Math A/B Regents examinations with grades of 75 or better, or achieve a 480 (or equivalent on the revised test) on the S.A.T. verbal and math sections.
New York State residents 60 years and older as of the first day of classes are permitted to enroll as auditors in Lehman College undergraduate courses on a space-available basis, tuition-free; proof of age is required for admission to the program. Individuals enrolling under this program are charged a $65 fee per semester plus the $15 Consolidated Fee. Applications can be obtained and filed in Shuster Hall, Room 161. Senior citizens who wish to enroll for credit must pay full tuition and fees.
Students who do not submit proof of measles, mumps, and rubella (M.M.R.)immunization or who fail to return the meningococcal meningitis response form within a statutory grace period shall be prohibited from attending the institution. For additional information, contact the Health Services Center, located in Room 118 of the T-3 Building, at the following phone number: 718-960-8900.
Public Health Law 2165 requires that postsecondary students be immunized against measles, mumps, and rubella (M.M.R.).
All registered full-time students and part-time students born on or after January 1, 1957 who are enrolled for at least six, but fewer than twelve semester hours (or equivalent) per semester in an approved degree program or registered certificate program must submit proof of M.M.R. immunization. Students may be exempt from the required M.M.R. immunizations for religious or medical reasons. To qualify for a religious exception, students must submit a signed statement, or in the event the student is a minor (under 18), a signed statement from their parent or guardian, that they hold sincere and genuine religious beliefs that prohibit immunization. To qualify for a medical exception, students must submit a written statement from a licensed physician or nurse practitioner indicating that such immunization may be detrimental to their health.
Public Health Law 2167 requires that postsecondary institutions provide written information about meningococcal meningitis to its students and that students complete, sign, and return a meningococcal meningitis response form. Public Health Law 2167 does not require that students be immunized against meningitis.
Public Health Law 2167 requires colleges to distribute written information about meningococcal meningitis disease and vaccination and students to complete, sign, and return to the college, a meningococcal meningitis response form that: (a) confirms that the college has provided the information about meningococcal meningitis; and (b) indicates that either: (1) the student has received immunization against meningococcal meningitis within the ten years preceding the date of the response form; or (2) the student has decided against receiving the vaccination. This law applies to students who are enrolled in at least six semester hours (or the equivalent) per semester. No student may be exempt from receiving information or returning the response form.