SUNY Community Colleges To Award Millionth Degree

Albany – More than 32,000 community college students will walk across a stage in the coming month and receive their diploma. Among them will be SUNY’s one-millionth community college success story. Like the community college classes before them, the Class of 2007, in addition to traditional students, is made up of single parents, working adults, international students, students learning English as second language and many individuals who are the first in their family to attend college.

 

The Class of 2007 symbolizes a new achievement for the SUNY community colleges and for the hundreds of thousands of students who have come before them - this year, the one-millionth degree will be awarded, according to SUNY Chancellor John R. Ryan and Vice Chancellor for Community Colleges Dennis Golladay.

 

“Reaching one million degrees awarded is a commendable achievement made possible by our trustees, community college presidents, faculty, staff and students over several decades,” said Chancellor Ryan. “Community colleges often serve as the bridge between a good past and a great future, not just for the individual students, but also for the companies, agencies and communities that they become a part of after graduation.

 

“Earning a four-year college degree equates to $1 million more in wages over a working lifetime than earning a high school degree, and approximately 25 percent of SUNY’s baccalaureate degree recipients each year got their start at one of our community colleges.”

 

“SUNY community colleges are among the best in the country. They provide the whole package – top quality higher education, diverse class schedules, nationally-recognized athletic programs, varied community settings, increasing accessibility, and faculty and staff that are second to none,” said Vice Chancellor Golladay. “SUNY awarding its one-millionth community college degree serves as a testament to the value of a community college education.”

 

Since SUNY’s inception in 1948 and through Spring of 2006, the community colleges had awarded 968,733 degrees. The SUNY Institutional Research unit estimates that another 32,254 will be awarded for the Spring and Summer 2007 semesters, bringing the projected total to 1,000,987, surpassing the one million mark.

 

The 30 community colleges will each commemorate the one-millionth degree at commencement. Some will give each graduate a commemorative certificate while others will choose one graduate at random to symbolically receive recognition in honor of the millionth degree.

 

In addition, the milestone achievement comes at a time when the need for higher education at the community college level is at its peak: the number of high school graduates continues to increase; obtaining a college degree to secure a job in the workplace has become almost essential; and community colleges are hosting more and more of the elder adult population.

 

“As the nation’s baby boomers begin to retire and seek to retool their skills for a second career, the role that our community colleges play in our local and state economies is becoming more and more important,” said Chancellor Ryan. “The demand for a community college education is expanding and SUNY is ready to answer that call.”

 

General Community College Statistics

• Nearly half of SUNY’s overall enrollment of 417,500 students is spread among its 30 community colleges.
• For the Fall 2006 semester, the SUNY community colleges saw a 3.6 percent rise in enrollment of new full-time freshmen, to 39,489 students.
• SUNY’s community colleges employ approximately 14,000 faculty who educate more than 208,000 students every year.
• Approximately 25 percent of SUNY’s baccalaureate degree recipients each year get their start at one of SUNY’s community colleges.
• Today, approximately 1,200 community colleges exist in America, and they provide more post-secondary training to citizens than any other type of college or business in the United States.

 

The first commencement will be held at Clinton Community College Friday, May 11. The remaining commencements will be held as follows:

 

May 11:           Clinton

May 15:           Columbia-Greene

May 16:           Ulster County

May 17:           Adirondack; Dutchess; Tompkins-Cortland; Westchester

May 18:           Broome; Herkimer County; Jamestown Cattaraugus; Jefferson; Mohawk Valley

May 19:           Finger Lakes; Hudson Valley; Jamestown Main; Niagara County; North Country; Onondaga; Orange County

May 20:           Cayuga County; Genesee; Suffolk

May 22:           Fashion Institute of Technology; Nassau

May 23:           Erie

May 25:           Corning; Fulton-Montgomery

May 26:           Sullivan County; Schenectady County

June 3:             Rockland

June 5:             Monroe

 

The State University of New York is the largest comprehensive university system in the United States, educating more than 417,500 students in 7,669 degree and certificate programs on 64 campuses. 

 

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