Young Adults
Too often, young adults from low-income backgrounds are locked out of opportunities for economic advancement. They struggle to find pathways out of poverty, especially in communities of color. Robin Hood’s Young Adults program works to remove barriers to academic and employment success, so young New Yorkers earn a college degree, get a well-paying job and become self-sufficient.
In 2025, Robin Hood-funded college success programs provided support to 10,100 low-income students to complete their degrees, and our investments raised graduation rates by an average of 15 percentage points – among the strongest results seen college success efforts.
By the Numbers
1 in 4
Young adults ages 18-30 live in poverty, the highest poverty rate of any adult age group in NYC
13.2
%
The current unemployment rate for young adults, more than twice the citywide rate of 5.6%. Young Black and Latino workers face rates as high as 24%
<25
%
Percentage of college degree attainment for low-income black and brown New Yorkers
CUNY Beyond, Robin Hood Grantee
A college degree is meant to open doors and sustain upward mobility, but currently, only 1 in 5 CUNY freshmen earns a living wage one year after graduation, and 60 percent of alumni are employed in a living wage job one year after graduation.
Launched in 2025, CUNY Beyond is a system-wide initiative to ensure that every CUNY graduate achieves career success by embedding career preparation into every stage of the college experience. CUNY Beyond aims to have 80% of CUNY graduates employed at a living wage one year after graduation, reaching 180,000 graduates annually by 2030.
The initiative has five evidence-based pillars: early career exploration, hybrid academic and career advisement, career-connected learning, paid work-based learning, and deep employer engagement. Research shows that students in career-connected curricula are 2x more likely to get jobs at graduation; those with paid internships are 3x more likely to receive job offers. Robin Hood is seed funder of CUNY Beyond’s pilot launch at four CUNY campuses – Hunter, Lehman, BMCC and LAGCC.
2/8
Our Strategy
We fund and support our grantee organizations and partners to:
- Promote college success: We fund programs that help young people enter and succeed in college, which provides the best opportunity for economic mobility.
- Provide job training: We support sector-based job training programs that equip young people living in poverty with the skills they need to access well-paying careers.
- Advocate for juvenile justice: We help at-risk youth avoid undue interaction with the justice system and provide them with pathways to success.
- Address critical basic needs: We support widening access to necessities to combat hunger, homelessness, and mental health challenges.
