SUNY Erie Community College: An Accessible Pathway to Education and Career Success

SUNY Erie Community College (SUNY Erie), the first multi-campus public community college in New York State outside of New York City, is committed to providing affordable educational opportunities for residents of Erie County, other counties and states, and international students. As a local institution of choice, SUNY Erie offers a wide array of programs designed to prepare students for both transfer to four-year institutions and immediate entry into the workforce.

Academic Programs and Applied Learning

SUNY Erie offers over eighty degree and certificate programs, along with career-focused credit training programs, spanning various fields of study. These areas include:

Business and Public Service
Engineering and Technologies
Health Sciences
Liberal Arts and Sciences
Trades and Vocational Careers

A hallmark of SUNY Erie's approach to education is its emphasis on practical application. Over 80 percent of SUNY Erie courses incorporate an applied learning component, ensuring that students gain hands-on experience alongside theoretical knowledge. This focus on applied learning complements a love of knowledge and artistry, encouraging students to creatively apply their learning to address community, environmental, and future goals. This approach is beneficial for both students planning to transfer to four-year institutions and those seeking immediate employment.

SUNY Erie's Reverse Transfer initiative process allows former students with 30 or more SUNY Erie credits to transfer courses from other schools back to SUNY Erie for credit towards their associate degree graduation.

A Diverse Student Body

SUNY Erie prides itself on the diversity of its student body. There is no "typical" SUNY Erie student. The college serves a wide range of individuals, including:

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Recent high school graduates
Senior citizens
Athletes
Former homemakers
Disabled students
Business executives
Veterans
Transfer students
International students

Approximately 90 percent of SUNY Erie's students reside in Erie County.

Pathways to Success Program

The Pathways to Success program offers three distinct, tuition-free, non-credit college preparatory program pathways designed to prepare students for college success:

High School Equivalency Preparatory (HSE) Program: Formerly known as the GED program, this pathway assists eligible individuals in obtaining their New York State HSE diploma and preparing for the national TASC exam.
English as an Additional Language (EAL) Program: This program helps incoming English Language Learners (ELLs) prepare for collegiate admission by offering courses to improve their English skills and college readiness. The program serves both students with international high school diplomas and those seeking their high school equivalency diploma.
Pre-Collegiate: This pathway prepares students to reenter the classroom and transition into one of the college's degree and certificate programs, all designed to lead students from courses to careers.

Campus Locations and Facilities

SUNY Erie operates across three campuses, each offering unique facilities and learning environments:

City Campus

The City Campus, located at 121 Ellicott Street in downtown Buffalo, moved to its present site in 1982 after the renovation of the Old Post Office. This architectural landmark is listed in the National Registry of Historic Places and was named one of the eleven most significant buildings in Buffalo in 1964 by the Historic American Building Survey. The campus features an expansive skylight and atrium, high-ceilinged classrooms, and gourmet cooking laboratories. The offices of the SUNY Erie Community College Foundation and Alumni Relations are located at City Campus.

SUNY Erie’s 45 Oak Street is across the street from City Campus and provides an additional 52,000 square feet of classrooms, academic laboratories, a student support center, and the Workforce Development (WFD) Division of Community Education and Corporate Training offices. The location includes the Radiation Therapy Technology program that now offers students instruction/training in the VERT system which is a virtual environment of a radiotherapy treatment room with captivating 3D views and life size visualizations. The WFD Community Education program is also housed there and provides non-credit training programs including Professional Development Grant Training in Pharmacy Technician through the Health Profession Opportunity Grant (HPOG) by providing nationally credentialed Pharmacy Technician Training. This 274-hour training program includes traditional classroom-based training and an 80-hour internship. An experiential learning partnership was established with the University at Buffalo School of Pharmacy. The final component of this training is taking a national certification Pharmacy Technician Certification Board exam (PTCB) to enhance employment opportunities and gainful employment as required by a partnership with the local Workforce Investment Board (WIB) and the Health Profession Opportunity Grant (HPOG) Pharmacy Technician Training requirements. In addition, the WFD Corporate Training Program is located here but offers most of its training at off-site or company locations.

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Burt Flickinger Athletic Center

The Burt Flickinger Athletic Center, located at 21 Oak Street, opened in June 1994 as a legacy to the World University Games.

North Campus

The North Campus, located at 6205 Main Street in Williamsville, is the oldest and largest campus. Spreading over 120 acres, it houses several buildings for learning, including Gleasner Hall Administration and Bretschger Hall. SUNY Erie’s One-Stop Career Center is located in the Gleasner Administration Building.

SUNY Erie offers the Nanotechnology AAS degree and recently opened a 6,100 square feet annex on Bretschger Building at B100 that houses laboratories and clean room space and includes a roof with 36 solar panels to provide clean power and employ a state-of-the-art energy recovery system. Highly specialized equipment helps to prepare students for career opportunities in its burgeoning fields; such as: electronic and semiconductor fabrication technology, biotechnology and environmental science. Students from Genesee Community College are New York State Education Department (NYSED) approved to take their final semester of capstone courses at SUNY Erie. SUNY Erie also offers the Biotechnological Science AAS degree and certificate programs. Industry experts suggest a shortage of qualified technicians exists within the regional workforce in Advanced Manufacturing practices in Western New York. To fill this need for trained technicians, the Biotechnological Science’s AAS curriculum has been carefully developed through a combined effort of local industry professionals and academians. The Brewing Science and Service certificate program established in 2015 provides graduates with necessary educational coursework and skills to enter into varied employment opportunities in its industry, preparing graduates for employment in the expanding brewing, microbrewing, and brewpub industries. SUNY Erie’s Industrial Technology AOS degree and CNC Machining Precision certificate programs continue to lead the way in Western New York advanced manufacturing by providing trained graduates to answer the region’s dire need for skilled laborers, manufacturers and technicians. The SUNY Erie One-Stop Career Center is located in the Gleasner Adminstration Building.

South Campus

The self-contained design of the South Campus offers buildings connected by bridges surrounding a center courtyard. Located on Southwestern Boulevard in Orchard Park, NY, this campus has buildings designated for business and the humanities, math and science, administration and recreation, as well as a two-story Learning Resource Center and the Student Access Center.

Vehicle Technology Training Center

The Automotive Technology program is provided at the off-campus location at 5885 Big Tree Road in Orchard Park near South Campus. The center is located on Abbott Road next to South Campus. This 1,650-square-foot training center is utilized for SUNY Erie academic program-related training in the Building Management and Maintenance AOS degree program with its related certificate programs of Building Trades/Residential Light Commercial; Green Building Technology; Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration in renewable energy and energy efficiency. Enhanced non-credit Workforce Development courses are taught pertaining to Western New York’s emerging green building technology field and as a showcase for local kindergarten through grade 12 STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) students. The facility is complete with multi-floor training rooms, electronic technology, and pole-mounted solar panels. SUNY Erie’s Green Energy training courses, which include both classroom sessions and field experience, prepare individuals for the Building Performance Institute’s (BPI) written and field exams. The equipment trains classes in solar photovoltaic, geothermal, and energy efficiency.

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Student Resources and Support Services

SUNY Erie is dedicated to providing comprehensive support services to help students achieve their academic and career goals. These services include:

Career Centers: Located at the North and South Campuses, these centers offer cost-free employment resources to SUNY Erie graduates and jobseekers in Erie County. Services include career coaching, assessments, grant funding for tuition assistance and books in Erie County’s Demand Occupations for eligible students, job readiness workshops, networking groups, résumé assistance, and referrals within a network of federal, state and local agencies.
Academic/career counseling service
Placement services for completers
Employment services for students
Credit for life experiences
On-campus day care for students' children

Accreditation and Recognition

SUNY Erie Community College is an accredited institution and a member of the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE). The college's curricula are approved and registered with the New York State Education Department and have been vetted through the State University of New York (SUNY). Many of the professional curricula are accredited by specialized agencies. The college is also a member of the American Association of Community Colleges.

The Middle States Commission on Higher Education is a voluntary, non-governmental, peer-based membership organization dedicated to quality assurance and improvement through accreditation by peer evaluation. It defines, maintains, and promotes educational excellence across institutions with diverse missions, student populations, and resources, including those in the U.S. Virgin Islands and several international locations.

Financial Information

In 2023, the median undergraduate tuition at Erie Community College was $5,200, which is $3,053 less than the national average for Associates Colleges. After taking grants and loans into account, the average net price for students is $5,740. In 2023, 43% of undergraduate students attending Erie Community College received financial aid through grants, while 20% received financial aid through loans.

Erie Community College has an endowment valued at nearly $4.16M, as of the end of the 2023 fiscal year.

Student Body Profile

In 2023, Erie Community College had a total enrollment of 7,618 students, with 4,396 enrolled full-time and 3,222 enrolled part-time. The student body is diverse, with the following racial and ethnic composition:

48.5% White
16.8% Black or African American
7.23% Hispanic or Latino
6.34% Asian
3.74% Two or More Races
0.446% American Indian or Alaska Native

In 2023, 1,169 degrees were awarded across all undergraduate and graduate programs at Erie Community College, with 49.5% of these degrees awarded to women and 50.5% awarded to men. The most common race/ethnicity group of degree recipients was white (671 degrees), which is 3.59 times more than the next closest race/ethnicity group, black or african american (187 degrees).

A Vision for the Future

SUNY Erie is committed to becoming a national and regional model for the community college of the 21st century. The college strives to be known as the most student-friendly and accessible college where success begins. SUNY Erie promotes its mission, vision, and core values through a comprehensive and ambitious strategic plan focused on five key areas: Access, Completion, Engagement, Operations, and Success.

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