SUNY Oneonta

Student Profile

Fall 2015 Enrollment
5,825 undergraduate students
99% of undergrad students are full time
40% male — 60% female
1.4% of students are from out of state

Faculty Profile

2015-2016 Academic Year
280 full-time faculty
143 part-time faculty
18 to 1 student/faculty ratio

Residence Life

Fall 2015
98% of first year students live on campus
58% of all students live on campus

School Location

SUNY Oneonta is located in Oneonta, NY, a safe, friendly city known for its small-town ambiance and genuine sense of community. The college’s 250-acre campus overlooks the scenic Susquehanna River Valley, about halfway between Albany and Binghamton and 3.5 hours from New York City. On nearby Otsego Lake in Cooperstown—home to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum—the college maintains a complex that houses its Biological Field Station and graduate program in History Museum Studies.

High-Impact Practices

Read more about the importance of High-Impact Practices 

RETENTION FALL 2015

86% of students began in Fall 2014 and returned in Fall 2015 (full time, first time freshmen)

6 YEAR GRADUATION RATE

72% of students graduated in 6 years

ENROLLMENT BY RACIAL/ETHNIC CATEGORY - FALL 2015

ATHLETICS

The Oneonta Red Dragons compete at the NCAA Division III level in the State University of New York Athletic Conference and the Empire Collegiate Wrestling Conference.

Oneonta has 21 varsity sports
10 men’s: baseball, basketball,  cross country,  lacrosse, soccer, swimming & diving, tennis, indoor and outdoor track & field, and wrestling
11 women’s: basketball, cross country, field hockey, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming & diving, tennis, indoor and outdoor track & field, and volleyball

Red the Dragon is the college mascot.

Academic Programs

The School of Arts and Humanities offer undergraduate majors in art, computer art, English, French, music, music industry, philosophy, Spanish and theatre.The School of Economics & Business offers undergraduate majors in business economics, professional accounting and economics; concentrations in accounting, finance, marketing, and international business and economics; 4-1 cooperative Master of Business Administration programs; and 3-1 B.S/A.A.S cooperative programs in fashion merchandising management, advertising & marketing communications, manufacturing management, and textile development & marketing.The School of Education and Human Ecology offers undergraduate majors in child & family studies, dietetics, adolescence education (English, family and consumer sciences, French, Spanish, mathematics, biology, chemistry, earth science, physics and social studies), elementary education (childhood 1-6 or early childhood B-6), family & consumer sciences, fashion and textiles, food service & restaurant administration, and human ecology.The School of Natural and Mathematical Sciences offers undergraduate majors in biology, biochemistry, chemistry, computer science, earth science, geology, mathematics, meteorology, physics and statistics; pre-professional chiropractic, dentistry, law, medicine, optometry, pharmacy, physician assistant and veterinary programs; and cooperative programs in engineering, physical therapy and occupational therapy.The School of Social Science offers undergraduate majors in Africana & Latino studies, anthropology, communication studies, criminal justice, environmental sustainability, geography, gerontology studies, history, international development studies, international studies, mass communications, political science, psychology and sociology.

More Distinctions

• One of 83 schools chosen by INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine to receive the 2014 Higher Education Excellence in Diversity award, a national honor recognizing U.S. colleges and universities that demonstrate an outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion

• Awarded the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching’s Community Engagement classification in recognition of strong civic partnerships and service-learning activities

• Frequently recognized for quality and value: named to U.S. News and World Report’s list of “Best Colleges” and Kiplinger’s Personal Finance list of ”100 Best Values in Public Colleges” for 10 consecutive years

• Included in the Princeton Review’s “Guide to Green Colleges” every year since its inception in 2010

• No. 474 on Forbes magazine’s 2016 list of “America’s Top Colleges”

SUNY Oneonta students have all kinds of opportunities to make the most of their education by taking an active role in their learning.

STUDENT–FACULTY RESEARCH

Faculty members frequently invite students to participate in research projects. For example, students in Jacqueline Bennett’s undergraduate research group helped test a green chemistry process that won Bennett a United States patent in 2014, and nine biology alumni co-authored a paper that was published in an international parasitology journal, synthesizing six years of undergraduate research with parasitology expert Florian Reyda at SUNY Oneonta’s Biological Field Station. Students also do independent research on topics of their own choosing and present them at the annual Student Research & Creative Activity Day on campus. Grant awards of up to $1,500 are available for independent research and creative activity projects in any discipline or interdisciplinary area. Many students also present their research at regional and national conferences, the travel for which is funded by the University.

GLOBAL CONNECTIONS

Each year, more than 500 students complete credit-bearing internships in their fields. Locations range from the Oneonta region to international destinations across 11 countries. The college also offers study abroad and exchange opportunities in 12 countries, including popular semester, year-long, or summer fashion programs at the Istituto Europeo di Design in Milan. Students can otherwise choose from more than 600 international programs offered through other SUNY institutions.

CIVIC-MINDED COMMUNITY

Community service is a big part of the Oneonta experience. Many courses incorporate service-learning activities, and more than 20 percent of students volunteer through the Center for Social Responsibility and Community (CSRC). In the spring, the CSRC hosts its signature event, “Into the Streets,” a day of service that brings more than 600 students together with community volunteers to collaborate on projects at local schools, parks, and nonprofit organizations. In addition to volunteering, Oneonta students support a variety of causes through club activities. The annual American Cancer Society Relay for Life, co-hosted by the Colleges Against Cancer chapters at SUNY Oneonta and nearby Hartwick College, raised a record $67,000 in 2015. Even the Harry Potter Club is civic-minded, holding an annual Yule Ball to benefit “Oneonta Reading Is Fundamental,” a nonprofit organization that distributes free books to elementary school children.

ACTIVITIES OFFERED

With small class sizes, accessible faculty, and an emphasis on learning by doing, SUNY Oneonta offers many opportunities for personalized learning. Students get plenty of interaction with faculty members who are not just scholars and teachers, but also club advisers, research partners, and mentors.

FRESHMEN FIRST

Freshmen are engaged in their learning before classes even begin. Faculty and peer mentors from the Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Department lead GEOFYRST, a six-day, pre-semester field trip exploring the geology of New York and the Northeast. Through the annual Common Read, all incoming freshmen are asked to read the same diversity-related book, which is then discussed in fall courses across several disciplines. As part of the program, the author of this book visits the campus to present the Mills Distinguished Lecture and interact with students.

FIELD WORK

Students put their learning into practice during hands-on field experiences across many disciplines. For example, every other summer, anthropology students spend a month searching for evidence of ancient hunter-gatherer communities during the Pine Lake Archeological Field School, which is offered in collaboration with neighboring Hartwick College. The Biological Field Station, which is located on the shores of Otsego Lake at the college’s Cooperstown Campus, is a learning laboratory for field research on topics such as parasitology, entomology, and lake management. In an annual summer course called “Water and the Environment of Guatemala,” students conduct water sampling at Lake Atitlán and work with Mayan residents to create community-based solutions and clean up the lake.

CO-CURRICULAR LEARNING

Under the mentorship of faculty members, students have a variety of opportunities to apply their learning through co-curricular clubs. For example: the Mask & Hammer theatre club produces two student-directed shows each year; art students mount solo and group exhibitions in the college’s art galleries; student and faculty musicians practice and perform together in a variety of ensembles; and the WIRE-TV club produces weekly programming and live-streams of college events.

COMMON CORE

CLASS SIZE BREAKDOWN

There’s plenty to do on campus when classes are over! SUNY Oneonta offers hundreds of hours of entertainment, athletic events, and social programming every semester. And with more than 140 Student Association-funded clubs and organizations—ranging from the Accounting Society to the Zombie Defense Corps—there’s an activity for every interest.

LIVING LEARNING COMMUNITIES

As of fall 2017, SUNY Oneonta offers four Living Learning Communities (LLCs) for freshmen interested in pre-health professions; leadership; sustainability and the outdoors; and teaching and social justice. Benefits of living in an LLC include mentoring, special programs, and the chance to live with other new students who have similar interests. Students in each LLC are enrolled together within the same first-year seminar as well as an introductory course related to their major.

SUSTAINABILITY

Students are involved in a variety of activities to protect the natural environment. Several clubs have a sustainability focus, and some students work as volunteers at the Red Closet Thrift Shop on campus. Student-driven projects can even receive sustainability grants; recent awards have funded the purchase of fruit trees for the campus as well as a program to raise awareness about post-consumer food waste in the dining halls. Each year around Earth Day, the college’s Green Dragon Week features activities such as film screenings, speakers, clothing swaps, a local food dinner, bicycle repair stations, and composting demonstrations.

LEADERSHIP AND MULTICULTURAL ACTIVITIES

Through the Leadership Education and Development (LEAD) program, students have the opportunity to achieve recognition in three leadership levels (silver, gold, and platinum). Each level requires a mix of programmatic and experiential leadership opportunities. More than a dozen clubs have a multicultural- or diversity-related focus, and a variety of programming—including speakers, films, readings, plays, festivals, and leadership conferences—is offered each semester. The college’s Center for Multicultural Experiences, which recently reopened after extensive renovations, is a popular gathering place and home to an array of social and academic events.

STUDENT-RUN CONFERENCES

Student scholars from throughout New York state and across the country come to Oneonta for the annual Undergraduate Philosophy Conference, Undergraduate Political Science Conference, and New Critics Literature and Composition Conference. All three conferences are organized by students and feature keynote speakers in addition to student presenters and discussants. Students also organize the annual SUNY Pride Conference, which brings students, faculty, and staff from SUNY campuses throughout the state to Oneonta for a weekend of workshops and activities. The conference aims to create a more inclusive SUNY environment through education, collaboration, and networking.

CAMPUS TRADITIONS

Pass Through the Pillars: Freshmen officially join the “Oney” family at the “Pass Through the Pillars” event on the night before fall classes begin. After donning red T-shirts and gathering for a class photo, the students walk through the pillars of Old Main, the college’s first building, to the beat of the Drag’n Rolls Drumline. Faculty, staff, and students gather near the pillars to clap, cheer, and high-five the new students as they make their way down to the quad. The day before graduation, SUNY Oneonta seniors pass through those same pillars in the opposite direction, and the college president leads the class in a champagne toast to their success.

Red Day: The college celebrates the anniversary of its founding on Red Day each September. Decked out in red, students, faculty, and staff gather on the academic quad for food, giveaways, carnival activities, and photos with Red the Dragon, the college mascot.

OH-Fest: One of the most popular social events at SUNY Oneonta is OH-Fest, an annual community carnival and concert that is co-organized by students from the University and neighboring Hartwick College. Past headliners for the free, outdoor concert have included Blues Traveler, Pitbull, and Panic! at the Disco.

Campus Housing Options for Undergraduates

Built for Success

At 72%, the college’s six-year graduation rate is well above the national average of 53% for public institutions. SUNY Oneonta students are well prepared for life after college; by the time they hit senior year, nearly three-fourths have been involved in at least two high-impact learning experiences, such as study abroad, research with a faculty member, participation in a service-learning project, or completion of an internship in their field. These powerful experiences not only help students discover what they want to do, but they also give them the tools to succeed—whether that means launching a fulfilling career or continuing their education.

Alumni Network

The college’s strong alumni network spans the globe, demonstrating the leadership and accomplishment that exemplify an Oneonta education. Students connect with alumni through programs such as the annual “Backpacks to Briefcases” and “Goodrich to Broadway” networking events, the “Distinguished Alumni Series,” and the “New York City Internship Fair.”

SERVICE LEARNING

Students participate in service-learning activities close to campus and further afield. Recent projects have ranged from wetlands restoration in New Orleans to work with poor children in Ecuador. In the Human Ecology Department, event-planning students have collaborated with fashion and food & restaurant administration majors to put on a “Fashion for Food” benefit for a local food pantry.

ADMISSIONS

Admissions Fall 2015

11,427 Total Applicants
5,567 Total Admissions
1,130 Total Freshmen Enrollment

Selectivity
48.72% of applicants admitted

Admissions Deadlines for 2016-17 Admission

Rolling admission? No

Closing date: Aug 15
Priority date: Feb 1

Admissions Factors

Very Important
Rigor of secondary school record
Academic GPA
Standardized test scores

Important
Application Essay
Recommendation(s)
Talent/ability
Character/personal qualities
Volunteer work
Work experience

Considered
Class rank
Interview
Extracurricular activities
First generation
Racial/ethnic status
Level of applicant’s interest

freshmen profile fall 2015

ADMISSION CRITERIA

SUNY Oneonta welcomes a freshman class of about 1,100 students each year. Successful applicants will have completed four units of English, history, math and science, and three to four units of foreign language during high school. A challenging college preparatory program is recommended. Regents-level classes are a minimum requirement for New York state applicants, with Advanced Placement and honors courses carrying the most weight. Students should rank in the top half of their class.

TUITION AND COSTS

Net Price Calculator

http://suny.oneonta.edu/cost-aid/net-price-calculator 

TUITION AND COSTS BEFORE FINANCIAL AID 2014-15

FINANCIAL AID

Average Financial Aid Packages 2015-2016 Estimated

$9,979 First year students
$7,000 All undergrads

Financial Aid Breakdown 2015-2016 Estimated

73% on average, the percentage of need that was met
13% of financial need students that had need fully met

$7,000 Average need-based scholarship or grant award
$4,189 Average need-based loan

SCHOLARSHIPS

SUNY Oneonta awarded nearly $4 million in scholarships this past academic year. Qualified applicants are automatically considered for merit scholarships, which range from $1,000 to $6,470 (full in-state tuition). Scholarships are awarded during the application review process, and a notification is sent with the acceptance letter. Funds are limited, and priority is given to students who complete their application, with all required supporting documentation, by Jan. 15.