CAS enrolls the largest number of undergraduate students for a private liberal arts college in the United States; its size and complexity owe to NYU's overall profile of enrolling the largest number of students in the country for a private, nonprofit, residential, and nonsectarian institution of higher education.

The university also sponsors some traditions for undergraduates including Apple Fest, the Violet Ball, Strawberry Festival, and the semi-annual midnight breakfast where Student Affairs administrators serve free breakfast to students before finals.

The university also runs a radio station WNYU-FM 89.1, which broadcasts to the entire New York metropolitan area.

[8] The most selective and famous club on campus is the Red Dragon Society, founded in 1898, which continues to exist to this day.

[9] Many notable NYU alumni have been members of these secret societies, including Elmer Ellsworth Brown, Howard Cann, John Harvey Kellogg, Walter Reed, and Frederic Tuten.