NYC College the First to Award Business Degrees in Cannabis

LIM College (formerly the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising) was founded in 1939 with the ground-breaking goal of helping young women find equality and careers in the fashion and retailing mecca of New York City.  After 80 years of bestowing degrees in fashion, merchandising and business — the private college is breaking ground again as the nation’s first to offer a Bachelor of Business Administration and Master of Professional Studies degrees in the Business of Cannabis.

“We are attracting both traditional and non-traditional students, including several who were not planning to go to college at all until they discovered the opportunity to study the business of cannabis at LIM College,” says Michael Zaytsev, academic director of cannabis degree programs at LIM. “They are coming to LIM for the opportunity to be at the forefront of a unique industry that is not only experiencing rapid growth, but also represents a vehicle for making a significant impact in matters of public health, social justice, environmental stewardship and more.”

A continuing goal of social equity

LIM College’s plans to ready students for the legal cannabis industry comes with the additional goal of opening more educational opportunities for diverse students. To assure equity, the college established partnerships with South Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation (SoBro) and Local 338 Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU)/United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), which increasingly is representing cannabis workers across the country.

“LIM is excited to partner with industry, government, labor unions, and other mission-driven organizations that understand the importance of education in creating an equitable industry,” says Zaytsev.

The educational incentives offered under these partnerships include waived application fees, tuition discounts of $100 per credit, and scholarships of up to $13,000 to eligible members of each organization as well as their employees, dependents and retirees.

Gustavo McClain,SoBro’s director of workforce training and also a student in LIM’s Business of Cannabis master’s degree program, notes that education is everything — especially in a completely new industry.

“At SoBro, we have monitored activities surrounding the legalization of cannabis in New York and elsewhere, and believe that now is the time to act,” says McClain. “The social equity aspect is important to us, as the South Bronx has historically had some of the highest crime, poverty and homelessness rates and our organization is working to reverse these trends. LIM can be a major piece of that.”

For more information about the degree programs, visit LIM College’s website here.