Undergraduate Catalog

2025-2026 Undergraduate Catalog

This catalog is current as of June 1, 2025. The provisions of this catalog do not constitute a contract, express or implied, between any applicant, student or faculty member and Empire State University or the State University of New York. The university reserves the right to make changes in policy, procedures, curricula, fee schedule, and other academic and administrative requirements, as circumstances dictate, subsequent to publication. Each student is expected to have knowledge of the information contained in this catalog and in other university publications and the student has a responsibility to stay informed of any changes. Changes in policy and programs are noted at information sessions and orientation workshops and on the university’s website. Updated information also may be obtained from the following offices:

Our Students

Empire State University is SUNY’s leading online university, and our students represent a diverse community of learners. Many of them are busy adults with jobs, families, and lives that might not fit a conventional university experience.

Most of our undergraduate students are between 25 and 50 years old, and about two-thirds enroll part-time. Over 90% of our undergraduate students today are transfer students and most of these students (over 55%) have attended two or more other institutions before arriving at Empire to finish what they started.

As a public university, Empire State University's mission includes helping military-affiliated students further their education. Our Veteran and Military Resource Center is staffed with experts who are ready to help this population of students find the academic program that best meets their needs, whether stateside or on deployment.

FACULTY MENTORS

The more than 200 full- and part-time members of SUNY Empire’s undergraduate faculty come from a variety of backgrounds, from business to the arts. Approximately 96% of the full-time faculty hold doctoral or other terminal degrees.

What the faculty have in common is a passion for teaching students. Our faculty are called mentors because they are partners and guides in your education. Every undergraduate student at SUNY Empire is assigned a mentor who serves as their own academic guide and resource from orientation to graduation.  Our students confer with their mentors on a regular basis to receive advice, plan their degree, and to carry out learning activities. Students maintain contact with their mentors in a variety of ways: email, online discussion areas, or even face-to-face. Most students value the personal attention, and when our students graduate, often it is their mentors whom they celebrate when they look back on their college years.

YOUR UNDERGRADUATE DEGREE 

There is no hard and fast timeframe for how long it will take to earn your degree, since this depends on how many courses you take at a time and how much credit you can include from transfer, exams and prior learning assessment. More than 50% of students complete their bachelor’s degrees within three years.

Perhaps you’re not ready to begin a degree program right now. Empire State University offers non-matriculated study that allows you to earn college credit.

However you choose to learn, SUNY Empire is dedicated to providing you with the best education in a time-efficient and affordable way.

Undergraduate Rates of Degree Completion*

All Students
Bachelor's degree-seeking students entering Fall 2018 - 1,435
Six-year graduation rate - 46.5%

Part-Time

Bachelor's degree-seeking students entering Fall 2018 - 625
Six-year graduation rate - 44.8%

Full-Time

Bachelor's degree-seeking students entering Fall 2018 - 810
Six-year graduation rate - 47.8%

*Source of data: Decision Support retention and graduation data model.