NYC Urban Debate League

Our Mission: to provide the highest-quality debate opportunities that develop young adults into informed, engaged, and courageous citizens. Every school and every student should have access to the best debate education opportunities. 

The New York City Urban Debate League (NYCUDL) is the largest debate league in the nation. Our mission is that every school should have a debate team and every student should have access to the best debate education opportunities. In 2011, there were less than ten schools in the city with debate teams. We were founded to change this statistic. Today, over 2000 students and 140 schools participate in monthly debates. Every day we support debate practices. Every week we offer Saturday workshops. Every weekend our debaters travel to local, regional, and national tournaments. Every month we host public debate nights. Every summer we host debate camps from the first day of summer to the last day of summer. Over 90% of our high school seniors graduate and are accepted to college each year. Many of our graduates also receive full or partial scholarships to the college of their choice because of their participation in debate.