State University of New York at Cortland

Characteristics

Campus Features

Additional Details

The State University of New York College at Cortland was founded in 1868 as the Cortland Normal School, which included among its earliest student inventor and industrialist, Elmer A. Sperry of Sperry-Rand Corporation fame. Over the decades, the campus expanded; and in 1941, by an act of the Legislature and Board of Regents, the institution officially became a four-year college providing courses leading to a baccalaureate degree. In 1948, Cortland was a founding member of the State University of New York.

During the fall of 2010, approximately 7,358 students were pursuing degrees within the College’s three academic divisions -- Arts and Sciences, Education, and Professional Studies. Twenty-eight departments, with a faculty of more than 600, offer the SUNY Cortland student body 60 majors and 38 minors from which to choose.

The College’s main campus covers 191 acres and includes 38 major traditional and modern buildings. Seventeen of these structures are residence halls providing on-campus housing for over 3,000 students. SUNY Cortland also operates its Outdoor Education Center at Raquette Lake in the Adirondacks, the Hoxie Gorge Nature Preserve outside of Cortland, and the Robert C. Brauer Memorial Education Center on the Helderberg Escarpment near Albany.