Statement from SUNY Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher on Governor Andrew M. Cuomo's State of the State Address

January 5, 2012

“Governor Cuomo continues to be a champion for the State University. He has it right: SUNY is a great equalizer for New Yorkers, and it will provide our state with an infinite return on its investment as SUNY drives economic development in every region, creates jobs, jobs, jobs, and trains students to become the workforce of tomorrow.

“The NYSUNY 2020 Challenge Grant Act embodies our ambition to marry academic excellence with economic revitalization and is propelling our university centers to the next level. The Governor’s extension of this act to all SUNY campuses, in the form of three additional $20 million grants, will allow our campuses to further carry out their mission to learn, to search, and to serve.

“Today’s State of the State Address reaffirms the Governor’s commitment to advancing public higher education in New York State and his unwavering confidence in SUNY’s ability to lead New York’s economic resurgence.

“It has been my absolute honor to partner with Governor Cuomo since he took office. I applaud his continued commitment to education in New York, and I look forward to building upon our partnership in the coming year.”

About the State University of New York
The State University of New York, which celebrates its 75th anniversary this year, is the largest comprehensive system of higher education in the United States, and more than 95 percent of all New Yorkers live within 30 miles of any one of SUNY’s 64 colleges and universities. Across the system, SUNY has four academic health centers, five hospitals, four medical schools, two dental schools, a law school, the country’s oldest school of maritime, the state’s only college of optometry, and manages one US Department of Energy National Laboratory. In total, SUNY serves about 1.4 million students amongst its entire portfolio of credit- and non-credit-bearing courses and programs, continuing education, and community outreach programs. SUNY oversees nearly a quarter of academic research in New York. Research expenditures system-wide are nearly $1.1 billion in fiscal year 2022, including significant contributions from students and faculty. There are more than three million SUNY alumni worldwide, and one in three New Yorkers with a college degree is a SUNY alum. To learn more about how SUNY creates opportunities, visit suny.edu.

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