John Jay College of Criminal Justice is a campus of the City University of New York (CUNY), the nation’s leading urban public university system serving students at 23 colleges and institutions: 11 senior colleges including John Jay College, six community colleges, the William E. Macaulay Honors College at CUNY, the doctorate-granting Graduate School and University Center, the City University of New York School of Law, CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, and the Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education.

More than 260,000 degree-credit students and 273,000 continuing and professional education students are enrolled at campuses located in all five New York City boroughs. CUNY students hail from 205 countries. The CUNY system is the third-largest university system in the United States, in terms of enrollment, behind the State University of New York (SUNY), and the California State University system.