Enrollment on a roll

As students embarked upon the first day of Summer Session 2 classes at SUNY Orange on July 7, the college’s summer enrollment was trending 14.02 percent higher than a year ago, marking the 10th successive academic session, dating to the Spring of 2023, in which SUNY Orange has posted a year-over-year enrollment gain.

As of its July 1 report, SUNY Orange’s summer enrollment stood at 1,545 students, 190 more than at the same time in Summer 2024 and the highest mid-Summer total since 2020 (1,640). Additionally, this Summer Sessions’ FTE (full-time equivalent) comparison is running 19.07 percent higher, meaning students are also taking more credits, on average, than a year ago.

Nearly three-quarters (73.8 percent) of Summer 2025 students are continuing students who were also registered at SUNY Orange during the Fall and/or Spring semesters. An additional 16.1 percent are visiting students currently enrolled at other colleges or universities.

“When we began this upward trend in Spring 2023, we were excited to see more students returning or committing to their education, and now, here we are with 10 straight sessions of growth,” SUNY Orange President Dr. Kristine Young said. “What a tremendous accomplishment for the college, and one that we are doing our best to continue for a long time.”

“Over the past few Summer Sessions, we’ve seen a slight increase in matriculated students [those in degree programs] taking classes. I believe more students are realizing that the Summer and Winter sessions can be valuable resources in helping them graduate sooner, or allowing them to spread out their class load over more sessions so they can be more successful academically,” SUNY Orange Provost Dr. Erika Hackman added. “I credit our enrollment team, pathway coaches, advisors and faculty with actively engaging current students and helping them realize the potential benefits of summer classes in particular.”

This Summer’s strong enrollment showing follows a Spring semester in which enrollment surged 6.5 percent ahead of last year’s student headcount, which came on the heels of record-setting Winter enrollment that was up 22.2 percent on the session’s first day. Last Fall, in system-wide SUNY data comparing recent Fall semester enrollments, SUNY Orange was listed as the third fastest-growing SUNY community college over the past two years.