The Ph.D. Program in Computer Science at The City University of New York's Graduate Center is designed to prepare selected students for leadership in industrial and research careers – and for teaching in academia.

The City University of New York (CUNY) Ph.D. Program in Computer Science is conducted as a consortium of the senior colleges within the CUNY system, as well as the Graduate Center. The Graduate Center is the only institution chartered to grant the Ph.D.. Located in mid-town Manhattan, the Graduate Center functions as the hub, both academically and administratively, of the Program. The other principal participant CUNY colleges, as of January 2011, are Brooklyn College, City College, The College of Staten Island, Hunter College, Lehman College, and Queens College.

Ph.D. courses are given at the Graduate Center – as well as seminars, special-topics classes and lectures and colloquia. Lab-oriented courses tend to be offered at the senior colleges. It is not uncommon – after the first year of study – for Ph.D. students to divide their time between the Graduate Center and one or more of the CUNY senior colleges (usually at their advisor’s home campus).