The State University of New York is a system of public colleges and universities in the State of New York. It is one of the largest comprehensive system of universities, colleges, and community colleges in the United States, with a total enrollment of 424,051 students, plus 2,195,082 adult education students, spanning 64 campuses across the state. Led by interim chancellor Deborah F. Stanley, the SUNY system has 91,182 employees, including 32,496 faculty members, and some 7,660 degree and certificate programs overall and a $13.08 billion budget.
While the SUNY system for many years lacked an official flagship university, Gov. Kathy Hochul designated the University at Buffalo (1846) and Stony Brook University (1957) as flagships in January 2022, though the controversial bill was highly debated in the state legislature and has drawn immediate concern from the presidents of other SUNY universities.The two universities, along with Binghamton University (1946) and the University at Albany (1844), make up the four comprehensive doctoral-granting universities designated as "university centers" by SUNY.
SUNY's administrative offices are in Albany, the state's capital, with satellite offices in Manhattan and Washington, D.C. With 25,000 acres of land, SUNY's largest campus is SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, which neighbors the State University of New York Upstate Medical University - the largest employer in the SUNY system with over 10,959 employees.
The State University of New York was established in 1948 by Governor Thomas E. Dewey, through legislative implementation of recommendations made by the Temporary Commission on the Need for a State University (1946–1948). The commission was chaired by Owen D. Young, who was at the time Chairman of General Electric. The system was greatly expanded during the administration of Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller, who took a personal interest in design and construction of new SUNY facilities across the state.
Apart from units of the unrelated City University of New York (CUNY), SUNY comprises all state-supported institutions of higher education.
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