About Us
Stella and Charles Guttman Community College is CUNY’s first new community college in over four decades. The College officially opened its doors in midtown Manhattan on August 20, 2012 with a vertical campus overlooking Bryant Park.
Minority-serving Institution
Hispanic-serving Institution
94% Minority Student Enrollment
58% First-generation College Students
Higher Graduation Rate*
*Compared to national and New York State averages.
Mission, Vision & Values
Mission
Guttman Community College works alongside our students in advancing our mission to:
Enact inclusive and equitable practices to advance social and racial justice inside and outside our classrooms.
Engage students in supportive communities and guided paths that lead to academic excellence and timely degree completion.
Empower students to make informed choices about their educational and professional journeys.
Vision
An educational institution that is responsive to its students, adaptive to the economy, relevant to a modern society, and accessible to all.
Values
Equity, Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging (EDIB)
We welcome, value, and appreciate each individual’s authentic self to foster an environment that embraces all identities.
Wellness
We prioritize our welfare to ensure that, while fulfilling our mission, we are not sacrificing our health or well-being nor that of our community.
Excellence
We commit to offering rigorous academic programs and comprehensive services to ensure our students can succeed.
Accountability
We are honest, transparent, and inclusive in practices, decisions, and outcomes to ensure continuous growth.
Relevance
We will continuously evolve our college to remain impactful to our communities and relevant to the economy.
Goals and Outcomes
Innovative Academic Model
Created to deliver a community college education with a focus on student achievement and timely completion, Guttman’s unique model features:
- Group admissions meetings to help students understand the unique features of the college prior to enrollment
- A Bridge program that builds community, prepares students for the academic work they will encounter at Guttman, and supports students as they transition to college
- A commitment to experiential learning within New York City to engage students and connect them with city resources
- Learning communities in the first-year that create a socially and academically supportive environment while fostering cross-disciplinary thinking and analytical reasoning
- A modified quarter system (the “12/6”) to improve retention and speed credit accumulation
- Mathematics in the first-year to support student success and academic momentum
- Structured progress in guided pathways to speed completion
- The opportunity for internships and/or capstone experiences
- Integration of Student Advisors, Peer Mentors, and Tutors into the entire academic experience
Fast Facts
Enrollment
Three-year Graduation Rate
Annual Tuition
Faculty
Staff
Academics
Satellite Programs
History: Creating the Guttman Legacy
In September 2012, The New Community College at CUNY opened its doors to its inaugural cohort of students. About five years prior, Chancellor Matthew Goldstein had issued a challenge to a CUNY-wide planning committee: Imagine a new community college that will create a research-based innovative academic program geared to moving students quickly and efficiently towards graduation. With average three-year graduation rates at public urban community colleges at just 15%, it was time for CUNY to be bold and creative.
The New Community College at CUNY welcomed its inaugural cohort of 300 students and, in June 2013, was renamed Stella and Charles Guttman Community College to honor a $25 million gift the Guttman Foundation gave to CUNY. The Guttman Foundation wanted $15 million of the $25 million gift dedicated to a Student Success and Engagement Fund for the College. From this endowment, the College has been able to create a host of programs that provide transformative learning experiences for our students.
Stella and Charles Guttman
Since its founding in 1959, the Stella and Charles Guttman Foundation has contributed over one hundred five million dollars to charitable organizations, principally in the New York City area. Historically, it has supported programs to improve and expand educational opportunities and the delivery of health and social services for children, youth, and families in low income neighborhoods. In 2013, the Foundation made a grant of $25 million to The City University of New York (CUNY) to support CUNY’s community colleges. The New Community College was then renamed Stella and Charles Guttman Community College in honor of this gift.
Charles and Stella Guttman lived the “American Dream.” He was the first American-born son of an immigrant family that arrived in New York City from Jassy, Romania, in the late 1880s. Raised on the Lower East Side, Guttman’s family life was not secure. His mother died when he was a toddler, and his father was unable to provide steady income to support the family. Charles left school when he was in his early teens. Stella Rappaport Guttman was also the first-born American child to immigrant parents. Her parents and older siblings arrived in New York from Russia in 1891, and they, too, settled in the Lower East Side. The Guttmans were married in 1918; they never had children.
Charles Guttman’s wealth derived from the success of the Paddington Corporation, which he started in 1937. Over the course of the next few decades, he became known as one of the most skillful and successful liquor entrepreneurs in New York. In partnership with a British company, Guttman created J&B Scotch, and he had exclusive rights to import it to America. By the early 1960’s, J&B was one of the top brands in the liquor industry.
Charles and Stella’s interest in philanthropy was serious and heartfelt. He seeded their foundation by taking his private company public in 1959, and until his death in 1969, he continually sold their personal shares to support the foundation’s gift giving. Its first significant gift was to the Henry Street Settlement, a Lower East Side charitable institution that had played an important role in his own difficult childhood. The Guttman Foundation provided the funds for a new building for the organization. When the gift was announced in November 1961, Charles Guttman was quoted as saying, “While it does not even the score, at least it serves to mark a memory that helped open a poor boy’s eyes to the possibilities of life in America.” In its early years, the Guttman Foundation also funded medical research, supporting, among other projects, research for breast cancer treatment.
The directors of the Guttman Foundation are grateful for the opportunity to continue the charitable legacy of Charles and Stella Guttman—a legacy that has, at its heart, the ethic of people helping others in need. Beginning in 2014, the Stella and Charles Guttman Foundation has directed a substantial portion of its grant making to early childhood programs that serve low-income infants, toddlers and preschoolers as they transition to kindergarten. Special emphasis is placed on programs that improve quality, expand services, and create a strong continuum of care for children ages 0-3 in high-need neighborhoods. Systemic investment in early care and education includes expansion of evidence-based home visiting programs; early childhood health and mental health initiatives; and professional development of center-based staff as well as child care providers.
Ernest Rubenstein
As former president of the Stella and Charles Guttman Foundation, Ernest (“Ernie”) Rubenstein (December 1928-August 2023) was one of the initiators the $15 million Guttman Student Success and Engagement Fund, which renamed the institution to bear the Stella & Charles Guttman name. As a strong believer in the power of education and an advocate for first-generation students, he was a constant presence at major college events, including Convocation, Commencement and College Foundation friend-raisers, and he remained an ardent supporter of the College.