Mixed Results for Community Colleges
By Hank Russell
Enrollment in local state universities has increased both year over year and over a two-year period, according to a report that recently came out from the State University of New York (SUNY).
From Fall 2023 to Fall 2024, Empire State College — which has a campus in Selden — saw a rise of 9.7% in enrollment. SUNY-Old Westbury’s enrollment went up 5.9% and Farmingdale State University brought in 5.2% more students than last year. Enrollment for Stony Brook University rose by 3.2%.
These state-operated schools outpaced the overall enrollment statewide, which showed an increase of only 2.7%. They also fared better against SUNY-wide schools, which saw an anemic 2.3% jump in enrollment.
Over a two-year period, from Fall 2022 to Fall 2024, the local universities made larger gains. Empire State’s enrollment was up 11.3% over those two years. Rounding out the list were Old Westbury (10.3%), Farmingdale (7.8%) and Stony Brook (3.9%). These gains outpaced statewide enrollment, which increased 3.3%, and SUNY-wide enrollment, which was up 3.4%.
Among community colleges, Nassau and Suffolk were on opposite ends of the enrollment spectrum. From Fall 2023 to Fall 2024, Nassau Community College enrolled 2.6% more students this year, while enrollment at Suffolk Community College fell by 0.6%. Nassau outdid the statewide community college enrollment figures, showing just a 1.9% increase.
Over two years (Fall 2022-Fall 2024), Nassau Community College saw a 2.5% rise in enrollment, while Suffolk saw a drop of 0.3%. Enrollment for community colleges overall rose 3.7%, surpassing both Nassau and Suffolk.
Among state-operated schools enrolling first-time undergraduates, Stony Brook saw a 14.3% increase in enrollment from Fall 2023 to Fall 2024; from Fall 2022 to Fall 2024, enrollment rose 21.9%. Old Westbury’s enrollment went up 11.0% year after year, 30.4% over a two-year period. Farmingdale’s enrollment improved by 9.3% last year and 15.6% from two years ago. Empire State’s enrollment was up by only 0.8% compared to last year; over two years, it slid by 23.7%.
According to SUNY, state-operated schools statewide saw a 3.4% increase in first-time undergraduates from last year, 8.1% from Fall 2022. Among the SUNY-wide network, only 0.9% more undergraduates enrolled than in Fall 2023, but enrollment over the past two years was up 5.2%.
Nassau and Suffolk saw a reverse trend when attracting first-year undergraduates. Enrollment for this group was 2.6% greater than the previous fall at SCCC, but NCCC’s enrollment was off by 7.5%. Suffolk and Nassau Community Colleges saw decreases in enrollment over two years at 1.2% and 1.5%, respectively. Statewide, community colleges saw a yearly drop of 1.6% but, during the two-year period, enrollment rose by 2.3%. SUNY also pointed out that, nationwide, first-year enrollment was down 5%.