PROFILE: BINGHAMTON UNIVERSITY, VESTAL, NY
This is one of a series of U.S. college and university profiles for 2011-12 and it will be
continually updated as new information becomes available to prospective students and
their families as well as the author. Statistics provided for this profile have been provided
from a variety of sources, most notably the U.S. Department of Education and the school
itself. Any use or reproduction of this profile without the expressed permission of the
author is prohibited.
Background and History of Binghamton University
Founded in 1946 as a satellite campus of Syracuse University, Binghamton University is the most
selective of the research universities in the State University of New York (SUNY) system. With
just under 16,000 undergraduate and graduate students, it is also the smallest research
university in the system. Binghamton has operated at its current campus for 50 years, first as
Harpur College, which was one of only two publicly supported liberal arts colleges in New York
State, then later as the State University of New York at Binghamton. It has been informally
recognized as Binghamton University (also ‘the Bing’ and ‘BU’) since 1992.
According to the school’s Common Data Set, Binghamton graduated two-thirds of its entering
class of 2004 within four years; more than three-quarters finished within six. The university is
one of only three dozen public institutions that retained 90 percent of more of its entering
freshmen and graduates 75 percent or more of them within six years. The university’s focus on
the undergraduate led education writer, and former admissions director Richard Moll to label
Binghamton as a runner-up on his list of “Public Ivies” in a 1985 book. A 2002 book, The Public
Ivies, written by education experts Howard and Matthew Greene, re-affirmed Binghamton’s
academic stature.
Yet, while the school maintains such an outstanding performance, the school ranks only 90th in
U.S. News’ 2012 college rankings of national research universities, tied with Miami UniversityOhio, St. Louis University (MO), a large private Jesuit school, and the University of Missouri’s
flagship campus in Columbia. The ranking does the school a disservice. Nine schools: Purdue,
Minnesota, Iowa, Colorado School of Mines, Alabama, UC-Santa Cruz, Auburn , Vermont and
SUNY’s College of Environmental Science and Forestry rank higher than Binghamton despite
having poorer retention and graduation rates. Binghamton’s six year graduation rate equals
Ohio State’s (ranked 55th) and is higher than Clemson’s, Rutgers-New Brunswick, Michigan State,
Indiana and Delaware, all of which appear higher in the magazine’s rankings.
These published rankings favor schools with a longer history, and in the case of research
universities, schools that have granted large numbers of doctoral and professional degrees. In
addition, graduates of those programs who are seeking research-oriented careers prefer to be
employed by universities that grant the doctorate. This, they believe, improves the likelihood
that they will get financial support for their work and find capable graduate assistants who can
help with their research and teaching assignments. While Binghamton, for example, grants a
doctorate in 39 subjects, larger schools such as Rutgers-New Brunswick and Penn State grant a
doctorate in 59 and 65 respectively. A school with fewer doctoral programs, and therefore
fewer doctoral degree candidates, is likely to be ranked lower because there are fewer
resources devoted to these programs.
Under former governor Eliot Spitzer and current governor Andrew Cuomo, the state of New
York is trying to expand upon the educational and research capabilities of each SUNY university
center to anchor a “center of excellence” to spur the economic development of their region. For
Binghamton, this can mean stronger alliances with SUNY’s Upstate Medical Center, located
about an hour north in Syracuse as well as tighter ties to the local health care institutions in the
Binghamton metropolitan area. The university has broken ground on a $30 million Center of
Excellence building at its Innovative Technologies Complex, which is in the northeast corner of
the campus. It also opened a new 125,000 square foot Engineering and Science Building this fall
at a cost of $66 million. The university’s last strategic plan also envisioned a law school; there
are only two publicly supported law schools, SUNY-Buffalo and CUNY-Queens College in New
York State.
Admissions
With average SAT scores around 1290 in Critical Reading and Math, as well as a 40 percent
acceptance rate, Binghamton is extremely selective. About five percent of all applicants to the
class entering in 2011 were offered a place on the waiting list, among the 500 who accepted,
only 28 were offered admission. Binghamton does not rank its waiting list; multiple readings are
done when spots become available. Binghamton uses the online Common Application as well as
the SUNY Common Application.
While SUNY calls its research campuses university centers, Binghamton cannot be considered a
regional school. Less than 30 percent of the student body comes from upstate New York while
just over 45 percent comes from New York City, Long Island and Westchester and Rockland
Counties. Binghamton is also the only university within the SUNY system that aggressive targets
out-of-state and international students; they make up nearly a quarter of the student body.
.Residents are not favored over non-residents during the application process. It is possible to
get into Binghamton with a SAT score in Critical Reading below 600—more than 30 percent of
the accepted students did. However, 85 percent of the accepted students scored over 600 in
Math and 74 percent scored the same or better on the Writing section of the test.
Academic rigor, high school grades and standardized test scores are considered “very
important” admissions criteria, according to the school’s Common Data Set. Used quite often by
college admissions officers, the term “rigor” is taken to mean: did you take the most difficult
courses that were available at your high school? An applicant from a leading public or private
school is expected to have taken more advanced or honors than a student who comes from a
less advantaged background.
Students must indicate a school: Arts and Sciences, Engineering and Applied Science,
Management, Nursing or Community and Public Affairs when they apply. This makes the
process more selective because applicants to the most competitive programs are considered
against each other. An applicant who is interested in economics, for example, at the Harpur
College of Arts and Sciences, might have a less difficult time gaining admission than if s/he
applied to the extremely competitive Accounting program in the School of Management.
The school also gives special consideration to well-qualified first-generation college students—
they represent just over a fifth of a freshman class-- as well as first-generation American citizens
as well as extracurricular activities. Five percent of the undergraduate population receives aid
and academic assistance under New York’s Educational Opportunity Program.
According to Sandra Starke, vice provost for enrollment management, students who applied to
Binghamton also considered Cornell, Syracuse, NYU, Maryland, Delaware and Boston University.
Other SUNY schools considered were Geneseo, a smaller college located near Rochester, and
Stony Brook, a research university located on Long Island. Binghamton’s yield rate, the
percentage of accepted applicants who decide to enroll, however, was an exceptionally low 21
percent, which suggests that most applicants ranked Binghamton no more than equally among
their choices. Binghamton does not offer a binding early decision plan, though it does offer
applicants non-binding early action. The school reports no data that gives one the idea that the
school is a first choice.
Starke adds that Binghamton takes a different approach to transfer students than most schools.
Instead of maintaining a series of articulation agreements with a small group of community
colleges, the admissions staff provides academic guidelines which are then shared with the
transfer counselors at these schools. These guidelines are also available to counselors and
students who attend other four-year schools and wish to transfer to Binghamton. The
guidelines cover not only grades but also credit-bearing courses. About a third percent of
Binghamton’s undergraduates are transfer students; their ability to follow the guidelines helps
enable them to graduate on time.
Binghamton has room to grow. According to Brian Rose, the university’s vice president for
student affairs, the university is expected to increase enrollment by 2,000 students within the
next five years, of which 1,400 students will be undergraduates, including freshmen and transfer
admits. Some of this growth will be accommodated on-campus through planned renovations to
dormitories within the campus’ residential colleges.
Costs
Whether a student is from New York or out of state, Binghamton is one of the best bargains in
American higher education. In-state tuition and mandatory fees for 2011-12 are approximately
$7,200. Among leading state schools outside New York, only the University of North CarolinaChapel Hill and the University of Florida charge less. Out-of-state students pay around $13, 400,
about the same as New Jersey students pay to attend Rutgers, their state university and less
than Pennsylvania students would pay to go to Penn State’s main campus at University Park.
Room and board charges average $12,000, which is on the high end for a state university.
However, while tuition and fees are low, institutional financial aid is limited. Binghamton’s
endowment is around $67 million, incredibly small for a public university in a large state. The
university is in the midst of a fundraising campaign, Bold, Brilliant Binghamton, to raise $95
million. The school has raised $92 million to date. According to the U.S. Department of
Education, only eight percent of Binghamton freshmen in 2009-10 received institutional grants
or scholarships. Among them were scholarship athletes. The majority of need-based student aid
comes from the federal Pell Grant program and New York’s Tuition Assistance Program. More
than a quarter of the undergraduates received a Pell Grant; this amount averaged over $4,500 in
2009-10. Interestingly enough, according to the U.S. Department of Education, the average net
price, costs less scholarships from all sources, for a Binghamton education, went down by about
$500 from 2008-09 to 2009-10. This was likely due to the increases in Pell awards supported by
the Obama Administration after they took office in 2009. However, the status of federal aid will
continually remain under debate in a weak economy.
While state and federal aid programs are vulnerable to cuts, Binghamton students have
historically had little to fear from tuition increases. In-state students in the senior class that
graduated on-time in 2011 paid only 14 percent more than they did when they entered four
years before. Out-of-state students saw their tuition and fees rise 25 percent over four years,
still below average for a leading state university. The total projected tuition and fees for a
Binghamton degree are expected to be under $31,000 for in-state freshmen who entered this
fall, expecting to graduate in four years. They are expected to be under $74,000 for an out-ofstate freshman.
The debt to credentials ratio for a Binghamton degree from 2006 through 2009, according to
Education Sector, a Washington DC based, non-partisan, non-profit policy organization, was
approximately $13,100. This is the average amount borrowed to complete a degree. The lower
the costs for the school and the more likely students graduate on-time, the lower the ratio. By
comparison, the debt- to -credential ratios for comparable schools were:
SUNY-Stony Brook
SUNY-Buffalo
Penn State-University Park
Rutgers-New Brunswick
University of Delaware
University of Maryland-College Park
$13,900
$14,300
$24,500
$14,800
$14,100
$11,000
Only Maryland had a lower debt-to-credentials ratio than Binghamton. This may be because
Maryland has slightly higher retention and six-year graduation rates (94 percent and 81 percent
respectively). The state of Maryland, like New York, also has public policies that limit tuition
increases across the state university system.
A Cornell student, according to the same source, had a debt-to-credentials ratio of about
$10,200, suggesting that Binghamton applicants who also considered Cornell are likely to have
chosen Cornell had they been accepted as full-pay students or offered sufficient financial aid.
Students who attended NYU or Syracuse had debt-to-degree ratios in excess of $20,000.
Applicants who considered those schools versus Binghamton could have reasonably chosen
Binghamton because they did not receive what they believed to be sufficient financial aid.
Comforts
Binghamton houses nearly two-thirds of its student body in on-campus dorms and apartments.
Dorms are organized into five residential colleges—College-in-the-Woods, Dickinson, Hinman,
Mountainview and Newing, each of which has its own community and recreational facilities. All,
excluding Mountainview, offer substance-free floors. Dickinson hosts special interest housing,
aka “pods,” in computers, robotics and engineering as well as the visual and performing arts.
Other residential colleges offer special interest pods in economics, fitness, musical arts and
pride and community. In the June prior to coming to campus, freshmen may be assigned to live
in any residential college, excluding Mountainview. After their freshman year, students may
change residential colleges; their assignment is partly based on the number of credits that the
roommates or suitemates have accumulated. All residence halls are Wi-fi enabled.
Dickinson and Newing, the most recently renovated, share a dining hall facility, while the other
residential colleges have their own dining areas. College-in-the-Woods and the new Dickinson
and Newing communities offer a choice of either suite style or corridor style floor layouts while
the other residential colleges are exclusively suites. The corridor design in the newest buildings
uses curves instead of straight hallways to make floors appear more private. People also run and
walk slower on a curved course, so they are likely to be quieter. The lounges and dining halls
also offer floor-to-ceiling windows and breathtaking views of the hillside and surrounding
woods.
The decision to build a single dining hall for Dickinson and Newing, within a new facility called
the Chenango-Champlain Collegiate Center, aka “C-4” or “the Bomb,” was a challenge because
each residential college had its own identity. Not only do the two residential colleges share a
dining hall; they also share an academic center and a large multi-purpose room. But each side
has its own entrance with its own unique color scheme. The Dickinson lounge has a gas
fireplace. The large Newing lounge has a table made from local trees and a refurbished phone
booth from one of the old Newing buildings that was demolished to make way for the new ones.
Both residential colleges, in addition to having their own lounges and conference spaces, have
offices for their local governments and faculty masters.
The residential college setting promotes leadership and responsibility. Each college has its own
student government which, in turn, is represented to the campus government. With faculty
involvement, a residential college is more than a dorm club; it becomes an academic setting as
well as a social one, and the residents have a say in school policy. Students receive not only
tutoring; they can take classes in their college, too.
The residential colleges also provide models of student leadership for freshmen to observe upclose, while ascending to positions of responsibility. The downside of having multiple dining
halls and social spaces, is that students are less likely to get to know people outside of their
residential college or their classes in their freshman year. With little history and no football
team, Binghamton is not bound together as a larger school around many traditions or campuswide events. However, it is not uncommon for freshman who reside in more conventional
dormitory living arrangements at other schools to request a room in the same building, and
quite likely on the same floor, for their sophomore year.
Ideally, says Brian Rose, students would live in the residential colleges for three years, instead of
two, which is the case now. This builds a stronger community as well as better student
leadership.
But rents in the Binghamton area are cheap compared to most college towns. It is possible to
share a house or private apartment near public transportation, the “Blue Route” that serves the
university and the community, for less than $300 a month. The Newman Development Group, a
Vestal-based firm, has built one student housing complex with 720 beds and is completing
another called Twin River Commons that will open with rents for four bedroom apartments
ranging from $740 to $835 per month, plus utilities. The university owns three, four, six and
eight-person on-campus apartments as well, and they have spectacular hilltop views. However,
these units are available to graduate students as well as upperclassmen.
Community
Binghamton welcomes freshmen over 8 to 10 small group orientations on different dates before
the school year. This helps to make the campus setting less overwhelming and encourages
students to get to know each other early.
Being less than a half-century old, the Binghamton campus does not have an “Old Main” or
similar landmark historic building. However, with the completion of the new residential college
buildings, the Engineering and Science Center, the $27 million Events Center, the partially and
soon-to-be fully renovated University Union and several sleek glass classroom and academic
office buildings, there is an ongoing effort to create a strong visual identity and energy
sustainability—aka “a green campus.” Driving around, one might consider the campus quite
attractive, considering it has been formed from little history. As one example, most colleges
feature a tall clock tower as a fixture in their marketing materials. Binghamton does too, only
the tower, atop the Union, is one of the newer structures on campus. This tower is also used in
some versions of university’s logo.
The Binghamton campus is settled into a hill. Residential buildings are situated above academic
buildings. Residential areas, as a result are in a tree-laden setting, through the academic
buildings are not. The image for a student is much like walking from an apartment complex to a
modern office park. The major traffic circle, as seen from a map or aerial view, is shaped like the
side profile of a human brain. It can also be thought to resemble butterfly wings when you add
the routes around the Hinman and Mountainview residential college communities. Curvy roads
not only enhance the feeling of a hilltop campus, they also help to slow cars down.
There is also a 182 acre nature preserve on campus, of which 20 acres are wetlands. The
preserve has numerous educational and recreational uses, including hiking trails and a wooden
footbridge. Its habitats include hemlock forest, oak woodlands, a beaver pond, streams,
wetlands, shrub-land, meadows and lichen-covered sites. The preserve is also the only campus
space that is not Wi-Fi enabled.
Unlike schools like Delaware, Penn State, Rutgers, the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill or
the University of Wisconsin, the campus does not border on a pedestrian-focused college
downtown. Instead it borders a commercial highway with numerous chain shopping centers
and restaurants that is accessible only by bus or car. Campus security works full-time at the main
gate; the buildings are not immediately nearby.
The university has adjusted by offering free bus transportation to students and continually
redesigns the bus routes around student off-campus living patterns. A Shoppers Special service
takes students to Wegmans as well as two local malls. As a result, a car is not really necessary at
Binghamton, unless you have to do a large shopping spree at the supermarket. Freshmen are
not allowed to have cars on campus. However, the school participates in an hour rental program
with Hertz where all students may rent a car for as little as $7 an hour.
Except from drug and alcohol related violations, Incidents of crime are minimal on campus, the
most reported being burglaries which went down from 60 in 2008 to 17 in 2010, according to
the school’s Clery Report, which is submitted to the public and the federal government. There
were no reported robberies on campus in 2009 or 2010 and there have been only two reported
incidents of a hate crime over the past three years. There were, however, eight reported
incidents of sexually related offenses, though none were statutory rape, from 2008 through
2010. There were also three incidents of aggravated assault during this period. Sadly, drug
related arrests went up from 44 to 74 during this time. But, while there were over 300
disciplinary actions (not arrests) related to liquor law violations on campus in 2009, the numbers
dropped below 100 in 2010. The campus design probably helps; the curved road network and
secured entrances make it easier for police to patrol.
In addition to the programs offered in the residential colleges, there are over 250 student clubs
and organizations on campus. Twelve percent of the students also belong to service and social
fraternities. Over 300 students represent the school to visitors as tour guides or student
ambassadors, a very strong display of loyalty. Students also run a bus service that provides
travel home to Long Island, New Jersey and New York City for the holidays as well as reduced
prices for Greyhound service to other destinations.
Binghamton competes at the highest level in 19 varsity sports, and leads its conference, the
America East, in attendance in men’s and women’s basketball and soccer. The university has
also avoided competing in college football while its sister schools in Buffalo and Stony Brook are
trying to develop a presence in the sport. The men’s basketball team won the conference title in
2008-09, but six players were dismissed from school for off-court acts of misconduct, while a
seventh returned to his native Serbia to avoid prosecution for beating a fellow student into a
coma. The coach, a former Georgetown assistant, was accused of forcing the school to lower
academic standards to admit the dismissed players, as well as committing academic fraud.
While the school has reached a financial settlement with the former coach and promoted an
interim coach, a former NBA player, to the permanent job, the scandals of two seasons past
caused embarrassment to the university. In reading student review sites, there are repeated
mentions of academic pride; students do not support reduced standards for athletes, especially
if they do not do the school work after they have enrolled.
While the school was proud of the 2008-09 basketball success before the scandals broke, it has
not been the only winning team on campus. The baseball team has won the American East title
in four of the past five seasons, and has seen its first alumnus, Minnesota Twins’ pitcher Scott
Diamond, make a Major League debut. Thirteen former Bearcats have signed major league
contracts over the last five years. The men’s soccer team has frequently appeared among the
top five in academic performance among NCAA Division 1 programs. The men’s track program
has produced Rory Quiller, the top college pole vaulter in 2008.
However, if a trip to the local Kohl’s department store is a valid indicator, Binghamton needs to
do more to boost interest in athletics in the community. While the university has a very large
student body, and is one of the dominant employers in Central New York, the Vestal Kohl’s sells
only Syracuse University sweatshirts and t-shirts. Syracuse, which is about an hour north, is
considered to be the home team.
While Binghamton is likened to “Rust Belt” communities that have lost industry and jobs, it also
has many amenities one might find in a larger college community such as antique stores, a
botanical garden, a performing arts center, a zoo and minor league baseball and hockey. The
New York Mets Double A team plays here as does the American Hockey League affiliate of the
Ottawa Senators. Binghamton is also the home of Twilight Zone star Rod Serling and is
considered to be the “Carousel Capital of the World,” with 6 historic wooden carousels within
city limits. The university built a downtown campus. However, it recently became vacated after
Tropical Storm Lee hit the area in September, 2011.
The Binghamton area is noted for very rough weather most of the year, including high rainfall
and snow. Binghamton is located at the confluence of two rivers, the Susquehanna and the
Chenango, and flooding is not an uncommon occurrence. When reading student reviews on
sites such as Campus Discovery, College Prowler, Students Review and Unigo, the rain and dreary
skies quite often appear as a negative as does the rundown appearance of the downtown
business district.
Curriculum
All Binghamton students, regardless of their major, must take courses in the following areas of
study: Aesthetics (primarily Art History, Studio Art, Music Theory), Composition and Oral
Communication (Writing and Presentations), Foreign Language (excluding Engineering students),
Global Interdependencies, Humanities, Laboratory Science, Mathematics, Physical
Activity/Wellness, Pluralism in the United States, and Social Science. Each school has its own
requirements in addition to those specified for the major. All students must apply to graduate,
to help ensure that they have earned the appropriate credits to complete their degrees.
The university makes it a point to inform students that they can place out of several of these
courses by virtue of advanced placement or appropriate scores on the New York State Regents
examinations. Students are not required to substitute another course in that subject area if they
have attained advanced standing, though the cut-off scores and credits available vary between
academic departments. But the opportunity to place out of as many as a semester’s worth of
credits makes Binghamton a more attractive option for an extremely well-prepared student who
might have otherwise attended an Ivy League school or other private college.
However, given the strengths of several programs, most notably Accounting, Engineering,
Computer Science and Nursing, students might not want to rush to leave. These programs are
among the highest ranked and considered the “crown jewels” of the university. The School of
Management ranks 12th among undergraduate business programs in Bloomburg Business Week
and the Decker School of Nursing is no less reputable within New York. It is not uncommon for
students to carry double majors. Twenty percent of the student body also goes abroad. The
most popular majors in addition to Accounting , Computer Science and Engineering are English,
Economics, Psychology and History.
Two scholarship programs are exceptionally worthwhile. The Binghamton University Scholars
Program operates much like an honor’s program within Harpur College, the university’s school
of arts and science. It includes group housing in Newing Hall, honors and leadership courses, an
experiential learning course and a capstone project. Students maintain a GPA of 3.25 or better
to remain in the program. As one of the few academic programs sponsored by an internationally
recognized employer, the PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Scholars program has several
benefits including:
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Special advising and mentoring by PwC Scholars Program advisor.
Honors certificate issued by the PwC and the School of Management.
Annual week-long international experience – Past cities have included Hong Kong, Paris,
London and Dublin. Accompanied by a PwC recruiter, students spend time at PwC
headquarters in various cities abroad, absorb the culture and learn business practices at
the hosting PwC office.
Dinners and events, such as basketball games, with PwC staff and partners.
Special writing and presentation courses to enhance written and oral communication
skills needed to succeed in the business world.
Guaranteed freshmen first-choice housing preference and early course registration
within your class.
Community service – Students give back to their community while learning how to
manage large projects. Past projects include planting bushes and flowers, building a
community garden and restoring a park in the city of Binghamton. Students work
alongside partners from PwC.
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Networking opportunities within the program with program alumni and others.
No New York private college, even one that offers similar majors—Syracuse, for example, also
has strong Accounting, Engineering and Nursing programs, and so does NYU—offers a program
like this. Students, especially those who live in New York, who have their hearts set on a career
get in.
Binghamton has a student-faculty ratio of 21 to 1, extremely high for a leading research
university. This is calculated by counting all of the full-time faculty as well as one-third of the
part-time faculty.
Connections
There were over 100,000 Binghamton alumni living in 102 countries around the world as of
2010, though the majority live in New York State. Interestingly enough, about ten percent live in
Broome County, where the university is located, and another 1,500 live in nearby Onondaga
County, where Syracuse is located. This is surprising considering the regional economy in Central
New York. Just under 14,000 live within the five boroughs of New York City. Outside of the Big
Apple more than 5,700 alumni in New Jersey, 5500 in Rockland and Westchester Counties and
10,600 in Long Island. The university has added a one-year fast-track MBA program to expand
its reach in Manhattan.
Membership in the alumni association is free and there are all of the print and online services
one would associate with a large university community: online networking and class notes, a
print magazine published three times per year, discounts, career services (including an online
job board and professional network). Alumni over the age of 50 can join Lyceum, a community
of lifelong learners affiliated with Elderhostel and the graduate School of Education.
Given the number of students who come from New York City as well as the number of alumni
who live in that metropolitan area, it is no surprise that the Big Apple is the most popular
destination for recent Binghamton graduates. “A three-hour drive is not a deterrent for the
recruiters, or for our students,” says Nancy Paul, the university’s director of career
development.
The career development center takes a unique approach to make these journeys happen.
Partnering with Cornell and Syracuse—the three universities form a triangle, with each leg 60
miles apart—the staff works with recruiters to coordinate schedules so that they can easily visit
all three campuses over three days. While the SUNY system does not operate a state-wide jobs
network, Binghamton is quite able to attract employers on its own and through its coordination
these two excellent universities. The career development center also has strong outreach
programs both online and in-person for students and alumni, as well as job fairs and a graduate
school/law school day.. Nancy Paul conservatively estimates that 57 percent of the student
body, graduate and undergraduate, were unique users during 2010.
Conclusion
Binghamton markets itself as the “premier public university in the Northeast,” and with its
selectivity and high mean SAT scores, it has every right to do so. Binghamton does not offer
every major students would find at a flagship state school, but it has several programs that it
runs exceptionally well. The culture of this school is focused around academic pride, though
Binghamton students, according to the review sites, are no less service-oriented and no less
social than students at other flagship state schools. The university also has the attractive
campus and demanding academics that the most serious students have come to expect from
any school. It also has a residential college system, much like Yale.
Binghamton lacks nice weather much of the year, but the same is also true for Cornell and
Syracuse, which are nearby. It also lacks a school spirit built partly around athletic traditions.
While the students who choose Binghamton may feel that is fine, revenue sports, including
football and basketball, bring more students and alumni together than any other activity at most
flagship state schools. Those seeking an education and watch nationally noted athletes at a large
state school would be wise to look at Syracuse if they want to stay in New York, or consider
state schools in other states. Even a winning basketball team from a conference like the America
East is not likely to draw a high seed in the NCAA Tournament; the 2008-09 Bearcats were
seeded 15th and played Duke, which was seeded 2nd. Given the bad experiences Binghamton
had with the basketball program, it is unlikely to see this university invest in football, which
carries similar as well as more expensive risks, or attempt to leave the America East for a more
competitive athletic conference.
The most serious challenge for Binghamton is attracting more dollars to support research and
provide more institutional aid for its students. New York has subsidized higher education more
than most other states for decades, but individual state schools have little to no experience with
fundraising. Citizens, students, alumni and parents have become accustomed to a state system
that has historically charged lower levels of tuition than most others. There’s little doubt that
they want things to stay this way, even as the state cuts back on operating assistant to its
colleges and universities.
Binghamton has gradually made its campus more attractive and environmentally friendly and
attracted more out-of-state students; these actions will help the school remain on a more sound
academic and financial footing than other SUNY schools. These actions have made for happier
students and alumni who stick around and support the school’s mission. The university’s
administration also realizes that low cost is not enough; residence halls, student-oriented
services and academic buildings cannot be neglected. Binghamton students and alumni have
come to demand as much from their school as Cornell students demand from theirs’. And for
the most part they get it. Some, like the Accounting majors, get even more.
REPORT CARD: BINGHAMTON UNIVERSITY
Costs: A 20 Points
Pluses
One of the least expensive flagship state universities in the country
Highly competitive out-of-state tuition and fees
Generous merit scholarship programs such as the PwC Scholars Program—for those who can
earn them
Exceptionally low student indebtedness
Minuses
Extremely limited institutional resources for need-based and merit-based financial aid
Comforts: A 20 points
Pluses
About two-thirds of the student body can be housed on campus
Considerable effort has been made to renovate the oldest residence halls
On-campus housing is a short walk to everything and anything on campus
Every student has a realistic chance of receiving housing, provided they are willing to remain in
the dorm where they lived as freshmen
Learning community options
Residential college arrangements include dining, community, academic and recreational services
Inexpensive local housing market for students who choose to live off campus
All on-campus residential communities are Wi-Fi enabled
Minuses
Not enough apartment housing for upper-class and graduate students
Community: B+ 16 points
Pluses
Very pedestrian- friendly campus that is easy to patrol
Nature preserve and plenty of opportunities to find serenity on campus when needed
University is building a stronger visual identity for the campus, “green” certification is a source
of pride among students, faculty and administrators
Modern Events Center for athletics and the university convocation
Over 200 clubs and organizations. Easy to start a new one.
Academic pride of students and alumni
Ample public transportation
On-going renovations to University Union, including faculty dining
Minuses
Downtown Binghamton has a deteriorated appearance
The community and region are susceptible to flooding and high rainfall
Few binding traditions through sports or other activities
Basketball scandals have caused embarrassment to the school
Athletic programs have weak identity in the community
Curriculum: A 20 points
Pluses
Liberal arts core is not terribly cumbersome
Ample opportunities to gain advanced standing as a freshman, even to the point of graduating
early, studying abroad or adding a second major
Nationally and regionally respected programs in Accounting, Computer Science, Engineering and
Nursing
Honors and PwC Scholars programs offer exceptional opportunities
Minuses
No schools of agriculture, art and design, communications or performing arts—these are found
at most flagship public universities
Not a good school for a math/science major who does not like to write
High student-faculty ratio for a state university
Connections: B+ 16 points
Pluses
Over 100,000 living alumni in over 100 countries
Coordinated on-campus recruiting with Cornell and Syracuse
Employers do not necessarily recruit by major, similar to recruitment at the most selective
private schools
Alumni association membership is free to all alumni
Alumni benefits include discounted tuition on continuing education courses as well as online
access to job opportunities
Minuses
Alumni network is very New York centered, considering that a quarter of the student body
comes from other states and countries.
TOTAL SCORE: 92 points