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Suffolk County Community College History
On December 18, 1959, Suffolk County Community College of the State University of New
York was founded under the administration of a nine-member board of trustees, five
appointed by the then County Board of Supervisors and four by the Governor of the State of
New York. On October 3, 1960, the College officially opened, occupying temporary facilities
at Sachem Junior-Senior High School in Ronkonkoma, New York, as well as part-time
facilities at Riverhead High School in Riverhead. Initial enrollment included 171 full-time
students and 335 part-time students.
As the College began to grow, the Board of Supervisors of Suffolk County provided a 130-
acre site in Selden for a permanent campus. Six buildings on the site were renovated and
converted, equipment necessary for the operation of the College was obtained, and in August
1961 the College occupied what was later to be known as the Ammerman Campus, renamed
in honor of the College’s founding president, Dr. Albert M. Ammerman. Two other
permanent campuses were opened
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the Michael J. Grant Campus in Brentwood in 1974 and
the Eastern Campus in Riverhead in 1977.
In 2005, in an effort to revitalize traditional downtown areas and provide additional access for
residents to educational opportunities, the College embarked on opening two downtown
satellite educational centers - a downtown center in Sayville specifically to address nurse
education and provide courses in medical assisting, anatomy and physiology classes, and in
the allied health professions and the Culinary Arts and Hospitality Center in downtown
Riverhead to offer two-year A.A.S. degrees in Culinary Arts, Baking and Pastry Arts, and
Hotel and Resort Management, as well as one-year certificates and a full menu of Continuing
Education courses.
Suffolk County Community College is the largest community college in the State University
of New York (SUNY) system, enrolling approximately 27,000 students. It offers more than
100 degree and certificate programs in business; communications and the arts; computing;
health, community and human services; liberal arts and sciences; and technical, scientific and
engineering studies. By May 2017, the College had more than 118,000 graduates and
produces hundreds of Phi Theta Kappa Academic All-Americans each year. The College also
prepares students to enter the workforce and to transfer to such institutions as Columbia,
Harvard, Cornell, New York University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, as
well as numerous colleges and universities in the State University of New York system.