New York Union Semester

New York Union Semester is a rigorous and rewarding program that combines academics with activism. Students intern with a union or worker organization for a semester while studying at the Murphy Institute for Worker Education and Labor Studies at CUNY. It is a comprehensive, hands on experience for students interested in social and economic justice and addressing issues of worker rights. It also serves as an alternative to study abroad programs for many U.S. based students.

Participants see the NYC labor movement from an insider position, and engage with social movements and worker struggles in and out of the classroom, while building a dynamic cohort of other young activists. New York Union Semester has both an undergraduate and masters level program.

Students earn a $3,750 stipend, unlimited Metro cards and a $1,900 scholarship for tuition, plus earn 16 undergrad credits or 12 graduate credits. Interested alumni often continue with the MA at the Murphy Institute and work in the US labor movement.