The Study Abroad office held an information session for current undergraduate students Nov. 19 about the recently announced Vanderbilt University-New York City campus. The application for the inaugural fall 2026 cohort opened the same day.
The VU-NYC campus is located in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan and will be the university’s first operational campus outside Nashville, Tennessee. Next fall, 100 students will start at the NYC campus for the Undergraduate Semester Program, and additional students will attend in the Master of Science in Business and Technology program.
Tiffiny Tung, vice provost of undergraduate education, began the event by detailing the campus’s location in Manhattan.
“It is half of a city block in the Chelsea neighborhood. In the center area, there’s a chapel because the university that was here was called the General Theological Seminary,” Tung said. “[The chapel has] a beautiful organ and a beautiful stained glass [with] student dormitories in this area. There are classrooms in the big lecture hall that kind of resemble Harry Potter. Then there’s restaurants, cafes, businesses and galleries all around the campus.”
Tung continued to talk about the ties the new campus has with Vanderbilt’s Nashville campus and the safety of the neighborhood.
“It kind of has a Vanderbilt feel. It’s got that brick architecture and this garden landscape area called The Close, which is an area where people can hang out,” Tung said. “On the edge of campus on Ninth Avenue, it’s a very safe neighborhood with a lot of families in the area. It’s a place where we feel really good about all of you living and learning [in] that particular environment.”
Tung then described the housing and dining options of the new campus.
“There will be undergrads in single and double dorms. That’s our plan for this upcoming year. We are planning to launch in fall 2026, so we are getting the beds ready for you right now. It’s getting new flooring, new painting and new fixtures,” Tung said. “There will be some simple dining options [that are] grab and go. There will be a dining cafe at one end of the campus and communal kitchens. Then of course eating out at the great establishments around there.”
Tung said the student-centered spaces and renovated classes in the building will best serve students while they are in New York.
“Then we’ve got the Keller Students Center. This is an area where, because you’ll be doing a lot of hands-on learning and group projects, there will be study and conference rooms. There are ‘Zoom rooms,’ because we figure you’ll be doing job interviews while you’re there as well,” Tung said. “We are trying to be really intentional and mindful about the kinds of activities that all of you would be doing while you’re living in New York.”
Tung ended her segment by thanking the audience for taking the first step of learning about the program and encouraging students to provide feedback to help ensure the NYC campus meets student expectations.
“You will be the pioneers as the very first class that goes into New York City and benefits from everything that New York City has to offer. I just want to highlight that we want to hear from you. We want to learn from you because you’re going to help us launch new traditions and experiences,” said Tung. “We want you to be adventurous and explore new opportunities in pathways, whether it is academic, professional, cultural or personal.”
Kevin Stack, law professor and recently appointed senior associate provost for VU-NYC, spoke in greater detail about what students can expect at the NYC campus, especially with alumni involvement.
“In terms of the kind of community that I hope that will create together is, first of all, our alumni are so excited to meet you. They can’t wait to teach you, and they’re helping us out with internships,” Stack said. “I’m going to be having dinners inviting alumni in to share their life, their career, their humor, where they eat — a New York question.”
Stack also discussed plans for students to become active members of the New York community through volunteering and outings.
“We are also going to have outings to give you access to places that you wouldn’t otherwise have in New York City, whether that’s seeing the business of theater, art galleries, looking at some business opportunities, government courts. There’s a really rich ecosystem of organizations, whether that’s tutoring, working at food banks, working at events,” Stack said.
Stack briefly went over the academic programming for the NYC campus and the goals he has for classes.
“There were two guiding principles for the academic program. Number one, we want classes that would enrich your experience of New York. We also want classes that are going to help you advance in your majors and not set you back,” Stack said.
Internship opportunities in addition to academic classes were specifically highlighted by Stack as a core aspect of the new study-away program.
“The second part of the academic program is academic internships, and we are so excited about what these are going to look like in the rich ecosystem of New York.” Stack said. “We have five different tracks or pathways for these internships, and these are going to give you the access to the demands for excellence in New York. They are also highly supported in each school, so we have a class that goes along with the internship.”
Senior Haley Kahn expressed excitement for the new opportunities and internships that the VU-NYC campus will provide compared to Nashville.
“It’s a great way for students who maybe don’t want to go abroad to still get that experience but still have an opportunity to get an internship during the year, which I think is something that Vanderbilt really lacks,” Kahn said. “I’m a computer science major and a lot of the people that I interned with this summer all have had internships during the school year. So it’s kind of another way for students to get good career exposure early on.”
First-year Maura Waldorf said she was attracted to the NYC study-away program because she could complete the requirements for her engineering management minor outside of Nashville.
“I think the internship [aspect] is really cool. It makes it stand out for going to New York rather than staying on campus for the engineering management minor,” Waldorf said.
Junior Armaan Parikh said he liked the opportunities available to students at the new campus, specifically that students can connect with alumni in a major city.
“I think it’s super exciting. I think it’s a great opportunity for seniors who have been here for three years and are looking for a new change of pace,” Parikh said. “I think it’s a really good opportunity for people who want to meet alumni and being able to go to a city where you can have access to some of the best alumni about.”
