This idea was based on the parallel between the pluck and elan that are characteristic of both the early-college students I worked with and that of America's hardest-working founding father. Five years after I wrote the book, I had the opportunity to revisit the field for a revised edition, making it appropriate to ask, after Thomas Jefferson's song in the second act of Hamilton, "What'd I Miss": How has early college/dual enrollment changed over the past half decade?
It's a little-known fact that Columbia University, in Manhattan, was home to the first mining school in America-the School of Mines-founded in 1864. For the past three decades, the university's program has been mothballed. Parts of its curriculum were subsumed into the more fashionable subjects of earth and environmental engineering. But next fall, Columbia University will offer a bachelor of science degree in mining engineering once again.
This year, when we announced that Hostos Community College will open a new center for its life sciences and allied health programs in the historic Bronx General Post Office building, it was a vivid symbol of CUNY's trajectory over the past year. The expansion is just one example of the story of 2025 at CUNY, a year defined by growth and innovation to meet the evolving needs of our students and city.
Among the standout achievements, San Jose State ranks as the number three public university in the West and number three best college for veterans in the region. It also places at number four as a regional university and number nine for best value in the West. These positions come from evaluations based on data from sources like the U.S. Department of Education, highlighting areas such as teaching excellence and accessibility.
The university said Monday nearly 40,000 students enrolled at San Jose State for the fall semester - an 8% increase from last year and the highest enrollment total for a single academic term in the university's 168-year history. San Jose State also said it welcomed its largest-ever classes of first-year students, transfers and undergraduate students, with more than 5,100 first-year students, 3,600 transfer students and a total of 8,700 new undergraduate students.
"Going to school is super important - I tell that to the young cooks we have. Some people think you can learn in the kitchen. Yes, you can. But when you come into a kitchen with techniques that are already embedded in you ... it puts you on a different level."