Academia and the University:

Academia and the University:

The University at Albany enrolls close to 20,000 students, ranking it among the higher university and college enrollments in the nation. Numerous colleges and academic programs within the University at Albany have been voted to be among the top in the nation. In terms of enrollment and quality of academics, the University at Albany resembles the top colleges and universities participating in the NCAA division I athletics.


Officially, the University at Albany was born in 1844, as the State Normal School. It has held a few names, but has adopted the official name of today, the University at Albany. The University at Albany was officially designated by Gov. Nelson A. Rockefeller as a University Center and doctoral degree granting, research university in the State University of New York public university system.


The university comprises 10 colleges and schools: College of Arts and Sciences, College of Computing and Information, Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy, School of Business, School of Criminal Justice, School of Education, College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, School of Public Health, School of Social Welfare, and The Honors College.


In the US News and World Report magazine’s America’s Best Graduate Schools, Rockefeller College was ranked 10th overall, 4th in Information technology and management, and 6th in Public administration and management, out of 253 schools of public affairs. The School of Criminal Justice was formed in 1966, was ranked #2 in the nation by U.S. News and World Report.


The College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering is the first college in the world devoted exclusively to nanoscale science and engineering. Major companies in the various nanotechnology industries have offices and labs at the CNSE facilities- IBM, Infineon, AMD, GE, Applied Materials, Tokyo Electron, SEMATECH, DuPont, Kodak, DARPA, Honeywell, Intel, Lockheed Martin, M&W Zander, Philips, NASA, and Motorola. Dubbed Albany Nanotech, this consortium is unlike anywhere else in the world. It also has the only 300-mm wafer processing line in the academic world. The University at Albany, these industry partners, and the State of New York have invested more than $3 billion in this complex.


At the East campus, the University prides itself with the new Cancer Research Center, dubbed "Gen*NY*sis." Also located in this state-of-the-art facility is the Center for Functional Genomics, which facilitates research in the areas of microarrays, proteomics, molecular biology and transgenics.


UAlbany is home to one of the oldest independent college newspapers in the nation, the Albany Student Press. Published continuously since 1916, the newspaper has a circulation of more than 10,000 and serves the students and surrounding area.


The quality of the University is directly influenced by many factors. In order to have a top notch University, it is vitally important to be competitive in every aspect of the University environment. It is certainly crucial to have superior academics, but it is also imperative to have nationally ranked athletic programs, ones which compete at the highest levels in the country.