SUNY enrollment up with Brockport showing biggest gain; GCC down slightly

Enrollment is up for the first time in a decade across the State University of New York campuses. Total enrollment grew 1.1 percent overall from Fall 2022 to Fall 2023 for a total of 367,542 students, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on Wednesday.

Brockport leads the SUNY system with a 7.9 percent increase, followed by the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University with a 6.0 percent increase. Geneseo has the third biggest decline at 6.2 percent, with Fredonia at a 7.8 percent drop. Upstate Medical University in Syracuse has the biggest enrollment decline at 10.1 percent.

“New York continues to make important progress towards building the best public higher education system in the country and as a result, more young students are choosing SUNY,” Hochul said in a news release. “I know firsthand that access to higher education is an engine for social mobility. That’s why I will continue to make important investments in our higher education systems and take steps to ensure college is affordable and accessible for students of all backgrounds.”

Among community colleges, Columbia-Greene leads with a 17.2 percent enrollment gain with Broome second at 16.8 percent. Niagara County has fourth biggest community college enrollment gain at 7.0 percent and Monroe is at 3.0 percent.

Locally, Genesee Community College is showing an overall enrollment drop of 0.8 percent, and Erie is down 2.9 percent. Dutchess is seeing the biggest decline at 17.7 percent.

Undergraduate first-time enrollment – a leading indicator – was up across all sectors at 4.3 percent. The technology sector showed the strongest increase at 13.3 percent, followed by community colleges at 3.9 percent.

Brockport has the second-highest change in first-time enrollment with a 25.2 percent increase. Only Morrisville is higher at 38.5 percent. Geneseo is ninth at 13.1 percent higher. Fredonia is down 10.6 percent and Oswego declined 18.6 percent with Empire State seeing the biggest decline at 24.3 percent.

Among community colleges, Genesee has the fourth highest increase in first-time enrollment at 13.3 percent. Sullivan County has the highest at 20.3 percent, followed by Onondaga at 20.0 percent and Schenectady at 14.9 percent. Niagara County is at 9.1 percent higher and Monroe Community College has a 7.0 percent increase in first-time enrollment.

To see the chancellor’s report on the enrollment data, click here.