Bronx New York Colleges, Trade Schools, Universities

 

The Bronx is one of five boroughs in New York City, as well as one of the densest population centers in the world. The Bronx is 57 square miles and is the only borough to have the majority of its land area on the mainland. Manhattan borders the Bronx to the southwest, with the East River separating Queens to the southeast. The population of the Bronx was over 1.4 million according to a 2015 estimate.

 

Whereas crime and arson contributed to people leaving the Bronx in the 1970s, the borough has changed and improved since. There has been a large influx of younger individuals moving to the Bronx in recent years, due largely in part to its steadily-growing economy and the Bronx’s boast of having the lowest apartment rents of all five boroughs. In fact, nearly 32% of building permits issued in New York City in 2016 was for construction in the Bronx. The Bronx has a long and fabled history and diverse culture as well as being home to Yankee Stadium, home of the New York Yankees baseball team. The Bronx was an integral and important location in the rise and popularity of hip-hop.

Going to School in the Bronx

With some of New York City’s lowest apartment rents, the Bronx is an ideal location to live while attending one of its prestigious and career-oriented schools or training centers. Mass transit is as prevalent in the Bronx as it is in the rest of New York City and provides reliable transportation from the borough to the rest of the city while vastly increasing the potential for finding work post-graduation. A Fordham University campus in Rose Hill is home to nearly 7,000 enrolled students in undergraduate and graduate programs. Fordham University consistently ranks as one of America’s top universities and offers courses that will ready students for the very same employment opportunities available in the Bronx and surrounding areas. Also serving the Bronx is Lehman College, which has been ranked as a tier 1 university by U.S. News & World Report.

 

Per Scholas in the South Bronx has a focus on providing training for technology-minded students. Per Scholas helps to close the skill divide and works to provide students with the information and knowledge that employers need. ABC Training Center is a licensed trade and business school that meets the needs of those interested in becoming certified nurse aides, medical assistants, or pharmacy technicians, as well as other jobs in the healthcare industry.

Find Your Next Career

The Bronx is very service-oriented, with two-thirds of businesses employing less than five people, and 80% of businesses employing less than 10 people as of 2011 data. Nearly 12,000 people work as nurses that serve in New York’s growing and demanding healthcare industry. Office space in the Bronx is not only booming, but rents are also substantially more affordable than in other boroughs. This office development makes secretarial and administrative support jobs very popular. Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance positions comprise the third-most popular career niche in the Bronx, owing to the increased residential development of the borough over the past decade. Top-rated careers in the Bronx include: Anesthesiologists, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, Orthodontists, Chief Executives, Surgeons, Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Family and General Practitioners, Financial Managers, General Internists, Pediatricians, Psychiatrists, Sales Managers, Marketing Managers, Natural Sciences Managers, and Pilots.

Growing Industries in the Bronx
Service industries comprise the majority of the economy of the Bronx, owing in part to the many hospitals in and near the Bronx as well as New York City’s dominance as the world’s financial capital. Continued positive growth in the financial sector also contributes to the needs of service industries. In 2011, jobs in the service and trades industries represented 77.7% of the Bronx’s total private sector employment, with healthcare and social assistance positions comprising 39% of total employment in the Bronx.

 

Top Rated Careers to Consider

 

Financial Services

In the United States, the financial services industry is responsible for 8% of the country’s GDP, third only to the manufacturing and real estate industries. According to a report commissioned by the New York City Economic Development Corporation, the financial services industry represents 15% of the city’s GDP, with nearly 1 in every 9 jobs in the industry. New York City has long been known as the financial capital of the world and the continued growth of the financial services industry will continue New York City’s dominance.

 

Five large subsectors contribute to the financial services industry in New York City:
Banking: As of 2015, there were nearly $16 billion in total assets in the U.S. banking system, with positive growth in net income. New York City is rife with banking institutions that help support the economy not only of the city, but of the country as a whole. The most wealthy and biggest banks in New York City are JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley.

Asset Management: Asset management is a massive subsector of the financial services industry, with asset managers managing the retirement needs of more than 60% of the global retirement market. Asset managers in the United States hold over 47% of the global total of funds under management. It should come as no surprise that the top asset management company in New York City is J.P. Morgan Asset Management, followed by Goldman Sachs Asset Management and Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith.

Insurance: The insurance industry in the United States, and specifically New York, continues to grow and boom. International insurance companies have been developing relationships and partnerships with U.S.-based companies, which purchase roughly ⅓ of all reinsurance sold world-wide. The three top insurance brokers in New York City are Marsh, USI Holdings Corp., and NFP Corp.

Venture Capital: Created in the United States, the venture capital industry is responsible for the formation and innovation of many of the country’s companies. Investments by venture capital companies are responsible for supporting companies that have since gone on to employ nearly 40% of the United States workforce and generate over 20% of the country’s GDP. In New York City, Union Square Ventures, Lux Capital, and Greycroft Partners are the three top venture capital firms.

Private Equity: There are just under 4,000 private equity firms in the U.S., investing more than $625 billion in companies based in the U.S. Goldman Sachs, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, and Apollo Management are three of the top private equity firms in New York City.With the Bronx’s proximity to Manhattan and Wall Street and continued growth in finance in the Bronx itself, careers in the Financial Services industry are in high demand. Individuals well-versed in the management aspect of finances are sought after as financial, sales, and marketing managers.

 

Healthcare Industry

There are over 150 hospitals in the New York area, including such high-rated and well-known prestigious medical centers as New York-Presbyterian Hospital and Mount Sinai Hospital. Construction of new hospitals and medical facilities has expanded in New York City, leading to not only competition between hospitals, but the need for more staff. Additionally, hospitals are building specialized centers throughout the city, focusing on small, retail-like specialized buildings such as urgent care clinics, cancer centers, ambulatory surgery centers, and diagnostic facilities. This expansion is contributing to an increased demand for jobs in the healthcare industry. Nurses and psychiatric and home health aides are the most popular careers in the healthcare niche.

Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services

To serve the millions of people in the Bronx and its vicinity is the demand for those skilled in the professional, scientific, and technical service industry. Attorneys, accountants, designers, consultants, analysts, auditors, and drafters in New York City are all responsible for providing their expertise to clients in other industries.

Particular subsectors of the professional, scientific, and technical services industry of New York City according to the North American Industry Classification System are:
- Legal Services
- Accounting, Tax Preparation, Bookkeeping, and Payroll Services
- Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services
- Specialized Design Services
- Computer Systems Design and Related Services
- Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services
- Scientific Research and Development Services
- Advertising and Related Services
- And other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services

 

Retail and Food Service

As of 2011, there were 27,100 retail jobs and 13,000 accommodation and food service positions in the Bronx, with steady and continued growth as development continues in the borough. Popular positions include cashiers, stockers, supervisors, and management personnel.

Some of the retail subsectors present in the Bronx and New York City are:
- Motor Vehicle and Parts Dealers
- Furniture and Home Furnishings Stores
- Electronics and Appliance Stores
- Food and Beverage Stores
- Health and Personal Care Stores

Manufacturing

New York City, including the Bronx, is still the single largest manufacturing center in the state, despite a shrinking manufacturing industry state-wide. As of 2014, there were 75,000 manufacturing jobs in New York City, with the majority of industrial plants considered small- or medium-sized businesses. Manufacturing positions in the Bronx are fairly consistent and pay an average yearly wage of over $57,000.

According to information provided by the Center for an Urban Future as of 2015, the manufacturing subsectors with the most jobs in the five boroughs are:
- Food Manufacturing with 16,368 jobs
- Apparel Manufacturing with 15,657 jobs
- Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing with 6,334 jobs
- Printing and Related Support Activities with 6,153 jobs
- Furniture and Related Product Manufacturing with 3,433 jobs

 

Colleges and Trade Schools

Fordham University in Rose Hill, Bronx: Fordham is a Jesuit liberal arts university with a campus at Rose Hill located in the Bronx. Fordham offers over 70 majors, minors, and pre-professional programs, with most majors offered at the Rose Hill campus as well as other campus locations throughout New York City. 28.6% of the student body is comprised of the underrepresented population, with students from 48 states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and 68 countries. In the 2016-2017 school year, the average tuition cost for an undergraduate was $47,850 with an 80% six-year graduation rate. Fordham University boasts a 75% health professional school acceptance rate and has connections to 2,600 NYC-based internship companies.

Lehman College: Located in the northwest of the Bronx, Lehman College is a liberal arts college that offers 51 undergraduate majors and programs, 46 graduate degree programs, 17 graduate certificates, and 11 doctoral programs in conjunction with the CUNY Graduate Center. More than half of Lehman College’s 70,000 alumni in business, healthcare, social services, law, medicine, teaching, and the arts live in the Bronx or New York State. The average annual tuition for an in-state student is $6,408; out-of-state tuition is $13,218.

Per Scholas: Founded over 20 years ago, Per Scholas provides IT and technology training to individuals from overlooked communities, with the intention of creating opportunity and closing the skills gap. Part of Per Scholas’s mission is to achieve diversity. Over 90% of Per Scholas’s students are people of color; a third of its students are women, and another third are disconnected young adults. Per Scholas helps to improve graduation rates, eliminate college loan debt, and help graduates find employment, with 80% of its graduates finding jobs. Per Scholas boasts an 85% graduate rate.

ABC Training Center: ABC Training Center is a licensed trade and business school that aims to train students to become home health aides, phlebotomists, CNAs, pharmacy technicians, nursing assistants, medical assistants, and bartenders. With a focus on small class sizes and personalized training, ABC Training Center assists students in becoming qualified for and finding jobs in the Bronx’s burgeoning service industries.

Job Market and Growth
Since 2007, the Bronx has enjoyed steady job growth and economic development. Employment and growth in the Bronx is the second-fastest of New York City’s five boroughs, second only to Brooklyn. The Bronx was the only borough in which the annual employment rate did not fall during the recession. In fact, between 2007 and 2012, private sector employment grew by 7.7% with the healthcare industry growing the most. In the same time period, the healthcare sector gained over 5,200 jobs and now comprises one quarter of the Bronx’s employment. Over 50,000 more people were employed in 2016 than in the five years before.

 

According to data available as of 2013, the Bronx has grown steadily since 1983 by over 53,600 jobs. Jobs in the social assistance niche grew by 3,640, making it the second fastest-growing industry after healthcare. With the continued economic development of the Bronx, retail jobs grew by 3,500 between 2007 and 2012, with 3,808 retail businesses reported in the borough as of 2011. Retail accounted for 23% of businesses in the Bronx and comprised 13% of the borough’s total employment. New business establishments in the Bronx grew by 26% since 1990.

 

Top Employers in the Bronx
Owing to the number of hospitals and medical institutions in and near the Bronx, it comes as no surprise that hospitals are the largest employers in the Bronx. Employers in the financial and social services industries are also in the list of the Bronx’s top employers, owing to New York City’s dominance in the world of finance.

Some of the top employers in the Bronx and surrounding areas are Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Mount Sinai Health System, New York-Presbyterian Hospital, JPMorgan Chase, Verizon, Wal-Mart, American Airlines, Columbia University, and Nielsen Company.

 

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center: The world’s oldest and largest cancer center, Memorial Sloan Kettering employs over 13,000 people. 935 physicians and over 2,200 nurses work at Memorial Sloan Kettering alongside an additional 1,200 researchers. Employees of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center work in a number of locations, including Memorial Hospital in Manhattan, as well as outpatient facilities and research labs throughout New York State and in New Jersey.

Mount Sinai Health System: Mount Sinai Health System is New York City’s largest healthcare provider and one of its largest employers, with over 36,000 employees. Mount Sinai Health System has hundreds of locations and facilities in each of New York City’s five boroughs and operates Mount Sinai Beth Israel in Manhattan, Mount Sinai Beth Israel in Brooklyn, Mount Sinai Hospital between East Harlem and the Upper East Side, and numerous other locations throughout the five boroughs and the northeastern region.

New York-Presbyterian Hospital: New York-Presbyterian Hospital is consistently ranked as one of America’s top hospitals and operates within six campuses in the New York City area. Resultantly, it is one of the top employers in the area and employs a staff of nearly 23,000 and has affiliations with 6,500 physicians.

JPMorgan Chase: JPMorgan Chase is the largest and one of the oldest banks in the United States. Headquartered in New York City, JPMorgan Chase is also one of the city’s top employers. The company employs over 240,000 people worldwide and handles $2.4 trillion in assets.

Things to Do in the Bronx
The Bronx is home to many attractions and places to visit, from places like the 265-acre Bronx Zoo, to Yankee Stadium, home of the New York Yankees. And with mass transit connections to the rest of New York City, a day or night of fun, learning, and relaxation is only a few minutes away from anywhere in the Bronx.

 

The Bronx Zoo: The 265-acre Bronx Zoo is home to over 6,000 different animals and features its own shuttle and monorail to help visitors traverse its grounds quickly and easily. The zoo was begun in 1895 and was once home to the New York Zoological Society. Two popular exhibits at the zoo are the Butterfly Zone, with over 1,000 butterflies and moths and complete with a separate butterfly garden, and the Congo Rain Forest.

Yankee Stadium: The New York Yankees have been one of the most successful baseball teams in history. In 2009, a new 51,000-seat stadium was opened adjacent to the old stadium and is the most expensive stadium ever built. Besides playing host to the Yankees’ baseball games, Yankee Stadium is also home to the New York Yankees Museum, which displays years of Yankees memorabilia. There are a number of restaurants at the stadium, including a publicly-accessible Hard Rock Cafe.

New York Botanical Garden: Built in the late 1800s and comprised of 250 acres, the New York Botanical Garden is home to 47 garden and plant collections and over six million plant specimens in its herbarium.

Poe Park: Opened in 1902 and named for Edgar Allen Poe, Poe Park was the sight of Poe’s final home. Poe Cottage has since been relocated by 450 feet, but the Bronx’s tribute to the famous poet lives on.

City Island: City Island is a small island in the Bronx that resembles a small New England town. Home to about only 5,000 people, City Island is nevertheless a great location to visit, if only for the seafood or to participate in some of the boating that residents of the island are fond of.

Sources

New York State Department of Labor. “New York’s Largest Private Sector Employers.” 2017.
https://labor.ny.gov/stats/nys/Largest-private-sector-employers-NYS.shtm

NYC.com. “Best Things To Do in the Bronx in New York.” 2017.
http://www.nyc.com/nyc-guides/best_things_to_do_in_the_bronx.178/