William E. Macaulay Honors College, commonly referred to as Macaulay Honors College, or simply Macaulay, is a flagship program for 1,400 high achieving students at The City University of New York, U.S.A.. Drawing upon the resources of CUNY and New York's cultural, scientific, political, and business communities, Macaulay Honors College aims to provide a broad-based and rigorous liberal arts education. The brainchild of CUNY chancellor Matthew Goldstein, CUNY Honors College was first conceived as an independent institution within The City University of New York. The aim of its creation was to increase educational standards and foster university-wide collaboration and excellence. However, support for existing honors programs at CUNY colleges and institutional opposition resulted in its launch in 2001 as CUNY Honors College in collaboration with a number of CUNY's senior colleges. Initially, there were five college partners--Baruch, Brooklyn, City, Hunter, and Queens Colleges; Lehman College, College of Staten Island and John Jay were added later.