State University of New York

The State University of New York’s 64 geographically dispersed campuses bring educational opportunity within commuting distance of virtually all New Yorkers and comprise the nation’s largest comprehensive system of public higher education.

When founded in 1948, the university consolidated 29 state-operated but unaffiliated institutions whose varied histories of service dated as far back as 1816. It has grown to a point where its impact is felt educationally, culturally and economically the length and breadth of the state.

As a comprehensive public university, State University of New York provides a meaningful educational experience to the broadest spectrum of individuals. Its students are predominantly New York state residents. Representing every one of the state’s 62 counties, they make up more than 96 percent of the university’s undergraduate student population. State University of New York students also come from every other state in the United States, from four U.S. territories or possessions, and from more than 170 foreign countries. The State University enrolls 40 percent of all New York state high school graduates, and its total enrollment of 463,000 (full-time and part-time) is about 37 percent of the state’s entire higher education student population.

The university’s program for the educationally and economically disadvantaged, consisting of 46 Educational Opportunity Programs and 10 Educational Opportunity Centers around the state, has become a model for delivering better learning opportunities to young people and adults traditionally bypassed by higher education.

SUNY students represent the society that surrounds them. In fall 2014, 27.5 percent of all students were from underrepresented racial or ethnic groups.

The university offers access to almost every field of academic or professional study somewhere within the system and online through Open SUNY (open.suny.edu)—to more than 7,000 programs of study overall. Curricula range from those in the more conventional career fields, such as business, engineering, medicine, teaching, performing arts, social work and finance to those concerned with tomorrow’s developing and societal needs in the areas of environmental science, information systems, biotechnology, and health services management.

The 30 locally sponsored two-year community colleges in the State University offer local citizens programs that are directly job-related as well as degree programs that serve as a transfer opportunity to a senior campus.

As part of the university’s commitment to bring to the students of New York the very best and brightest scholars, scientists, artists and professionals, the State University’s distinguished faculty is recruited from the finest graduate schools and universities throughout the United States and many countries around the world, and includes nationally and internationally recognized figures in all the major disciplines. Their efforts are regularly recognized in numerous prestigious awards and honors, including the Nobel Prize.

State University’s research contributions are helping to solve some of today’s most urgent problems. At the same time, contracts and grants received by university faculty directly benefit the economic development of the regions in which they are located. State University researchers pioneered nuclear magnetic resonance imaging and the supermarket bar code scanner, isolated the bacteria that causes Lyme disease and developed the first implantable heart pacemaker. Other university researchers continue important studies in such wide-ranging areas as immunology,marine biology and robotics, and make hundreds of other contributions for the benefit of society.

The university’s economic development services provide research, training, and technical assistance to the state’s business and industrial community through business centers and institutes and through international development.

The majority of the university’s 3 million alumni reside and pursue careers in communities across New York state, contributing to the economic and social vitality of its people.

State University of New York is governed by a board of trustees, appointed by the governor, which directly determines the policies to be followed by the 34 state-supported campuses. Community colleges have their own local boards of trustees.

As a public university, the State University of New York has a special responsibility to make its rich and varied resources accessible to all. By focusing its educational system on the needs of the state, the university becomes a valuable resource for meeting those needs for today and tomorrow.

The university’s motto is: “To Learn – To Search – To Serve. “

State University of New York at Albany
State University of New York at Binghamton
State University of New York at Buffalo*
State University of New York at Stony Brook* 

State University College at Brockport
State University College at Buffalo
State University College at Cortland
State University Empire State College
State University College at Fredonia
State University College at Geneseo
State University College at New Paltz
State University College at Old Westbury
State University College at Oneonta
State University College at Oswego
State University College at Plattsburgh
State University College at Potsdam
State University College at Purchase 

State University Health Science Center at Brooklyn
State University Health Science Center at Syracuse 

State University College of Technology at Alfred
State University College of Technology at Canton
State University College of Agriculture and Technology at Cobleskill
State University College of Technology at Delhi
State University College of Agriculture and Technology at Morrisville

Upper-division and Master’s Programs

Fashion Institute of Technology at New York City***

Specialized Colleges

State University College of Environmental Science and Forestry at Syracuse
State University College of Technology at Farmingdale
State University Maritime College at Fort Schuyler
State University College of Optometry at New York City
State University College of Polytechnic Institute**

New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University
New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University
New York State College of Human Ecology at Cornell University
New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University
New York State College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University Community Colleges
 

Community Colleges

Locally-sponsored, two-year colleges under the program of the State University of New York:
Adirondack Community College at Glens Falls
Broome Community College at Binghamton
Cayuga County Community College at Auburn
Clinton Community College at Plattsburgh
Columbia-Greene Community College at Hudson
Community College of the Finger Lakes at Canandaigua
Corning Community College at Corning
Dutchess Community College at Poughkeepsie
Erie Community College at Williamsville, Buffalo and Orchard Park
Fashion Institute of Technology at New York City***
Fulton-Montgomery Community College at Johnstown
Genesee Community College at Batavia
Herkimer County Community College at Herkimer
Hudson Valley Community College at Troy
Jamestown Community College at Jamestown
Jefferson Community College at Watertown
Mohawk Valley Community College at Utica
Monroe Community College at Rochester
Nassau Community College at Garden City
Niagara County Community College at Sanborn
North Country Community College at Saranac Lake
Onondaga Community College at Syracuse
Orange County Community College at Middletown
Rockland Community College at Suffern
Schenectady County Community College at Schenectady
Suffolk County Community College at Selden, Riverhead and Brentwood
Sullivan County Community College at Loch Sheldrake
Tompkins Cortland Community College at Dryden
Ulster County Community College at Stone Ridge
Westchester Community College at Valhalla

*The Health Sciences Centers at Buffalo and Stony Brook are operated under the administration of their respective University Centers.

**This is an upper-division institution authorized to offer baccalaureate and master’s degree programs.

***While authorized to offer such baccalaureate and master’s degree programs as may be approved pursuant to the provisions of the Master Plan, in addition to the associate degree, the Fashion Institute of Technology is financed and administered in the manner provided for community colleges.

****These operate as “contract colleges” on the campuses of independent universities.