What should I know about NYU and NYU Poly merger?

The New York University Tandon School of Engineering is one of the oldest private engineering schools in the United States dating back to 1854. Discussions leading to the merger of Polytechnic University and New York University started in 2004. At first the two institutions agreed to form an affiliation which changed the name of the school to Polytechnic Institute of New York University. The final merger took place in 2014 when the New York State Regents approved the charter. In 2015, a gift of a 100 million dollars from Chandrika and Ranjan Tandon led to the change in name to Tandon School of Engineering. It also opened a bioengineering division with the medical and dental schools. 

The merger between NYU and NYU Poly  means that students who enrolled in NYU Poly from Fall 2013 were awarded degrees from the NYU College of Engineering. 

Impact of Merger: 

• At the largest scale, this resulted in a boost for school rankings as Poly is now combined with the much larger, and higher ranked NYU. SAT scores for first year students rose dramatically, research grants increased by 30%, and graduation rates by 15%.
• It brought back engineering to NYU for the first time since the closing of its Heights Campus in the Bronx in 1973.  
• The affiliation allowed NYU to make major faculty hires and enhance its presence in Brooklyn.
• It also means that students have access to a wide variety of facilities and placement opportunities available at NYU, which NYU Poly may not have had. In short, students looking at rankings and placement opportunities should take advantage of this change. More funds have led to improve in facilities like remodeling of Rogers Hall, the new MAGNET, acquisitions of more office space in Brooklyn and better facilities on the main campus like dining halls etc.

On the other hand, mergers affect the functioning of colleges, professors, grant opportunities and the overall level of education you may receive. You should do some research into how the merger is impacting the faculty, class sizes and quality of education before making any decisions. Some of the concerns are the rising tuition costs, less diversity in the classes. Initially the former Poly students complained of being treated as second-class citizens by the main campus students. The rising student count has led to shortage of Dorm space. 

To know more about the merger and how it impacts your choice of college and program, contact us now.