Members of the City Council are fighting to get the CUNY Prep program back into the city's budget.

Mayor Bill de Blasio released the city's new budget totaling about $74 billion, but the CUNY Prep program was no longer included.

City Council Speaker Melissa Mark Viverito and Councilman Jimmy Vacca are now listening to students that have benefited from the program in an effort to secure its place in the budget.

Many of the students say their lives were going nowhere prior to the prep program. Several say they had dropped out of high school due to injury, teen pregnancy and incarceration, but the program allowed them to earn their high school equivalency and get back on track.

The city's budget is expected to be approved sometime in June.