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AN OVERVIEW

In 1997, the Board of Trustees of the City University of New York (CUNY) put in place a policy requiring students in both associate and baccalaureate programs to demonstrate their command of certain vital academic skills by the time they reach the 60th credit. These skills are associated primarily with academic literacy: the ability to understand and think critically about ideas and information presented in print and the ability to write clearly, logically, and correctly. Employers of CUNY graduates consistently stress the importance of strength in these areas. These skills are also vital to success in the junior and senior year in bachelor's programs, as well as in graduate and professional study. The CUNY Proficiency Exam (CPE) requires students to demonstrate their competence in aspects of academic literacy that the CUNY faculty considers important for later success. Specifically, the CPE tests some of the skills that you have developed through the course work that you have taken: reading and interpreting textbooks and material of general interest; organizing and presenting your ideas about what you have read and connecting those ideas to other information or concepts; writing clearly and effectively for an audience; and interpreting and evaluating material presented in charts and graphs.