Brand Pillar #1: Why a Supportive Community?

Jasmine Tang

students on campus

students in trading room

We are home to a beautiful residential campus with a close-knit and inclusive culture that embraces intellectual curiosity and personal growth.

  • We are consistently recognized among top colleges in the nation for excellence and value:
  • We are one of only 286 four-year colleges — and the only SUNY comprehensive college — to have a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, America's most prestigious honor society.
  • We are New York State’s only COPLAC member institution.
  • Our professional programs are nationally recognized for excellence:
    • The School of Business is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), an honor that less than five percent of the world’s business schools can claim.
    • The Ella Cline Shear School of Education is accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), which only recognizes programs of the highest standard.
  • Over half of all students live on campus in close-knit small living learning communities that average about 176 students per unit.

We celebrate the surrounding scenic magnificence and historic ties that bind our community’s past to its future.

  • Our campus, located in this ‘beautiful valley,’ stands on land that is part of the historic homeland of the Seneca Nation of Indians and the Tonawanda Seneca Nation.
  • We celebrate our many traditions: Capturing sunsets at the gazebo, decorating the painted tree, and photos of the Seuss Spruce on Sturges Quad.

Our deeply-invested and talented faculty and staff are mentors who are committed to the personal development and academic pursuits of our students.

  • 81% of our classes are taught by full-time faculty.
  • 90 percent of our faculty hold a Ph.D. or equivalent degree.
  • Our faculty are at the top of their fields:
    • SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professors
    • Distinguished Professors.
    • Distinguished Service Professors.
    • Chancellor's Award winners for Teaching Excellence.
  • Our personal learning environments foster a close-knit intellectual community.
    • 1:16 faculty to student ratio.
    • 22 median class size.

We are high-achieving collaborators; our students embrace opportunity and challenge each other to succeed.

  • Students who come to Geneseo are talented and high-achieving.
    • 92.8 mean high school GPA among Fall 2022 incoming students.
    • 1246 avg. SAT among Fall 2022 incoming students.
  • In surveys, students make note of “Spending significant amounts of time studying and on academic work,” which is significantly higher than SUNY peers (National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) 2014 and 2017).
  • Over 41 percent of undergraduate seniors undertook research projects, significantly higher than COPLAC at 29% (Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges) and SUNY peers at 24% (NSSE 2021).
  • Close to 1,000 students present scholarly and creative work at the College's annual GREAT Day research celebration.

Our supportive and proud alumni network carries the spirit of generosity and support permeating campus into the professional world.

  • Proud alumni; over 85 percent say they would attend Geneseo again.
  • The percent of alumni giving has generally been higher than other SUNYs.