About the College

Empire State College, one of the 64 institutions in the State University of New York system, was founded in 1971 to serve adult learners. The college offers flexible scheduling, individualized, independent study, and assessment of life and work experience for credit. Since then, locations across the state of New York have been established where students interact with the faculty and staff. The college’s extensive online offerings, the most extensive in the SUNY system, serve students across the country and around the globe.

The college offers undergraduate degrees and master's degrees as well as undergraduate certificate programs and graduate certificate programs, providing a broad range of options to more than 20,000 adult learners enrolled at the college. Its 70,000 alumni worldwide are actively engaged with the college and each other through the college’s award-winning alumni website.

Empire State College’s nontraditional approach to post-secondary education and focus on adult learners makes it unique within the SUNY system.