Binghamton University

About

The State University of New York at Binghamton, commonly referred to as Binghamton University (BU) or SUNY Binghamton, is a public research university in Greater Binghamton, New York, United States. The university's main campus spans 930 acres (380 ha) in the suburb of Vestal. As of fall 2025, the university enrolled 18,652 students in its six constituent schools, which offer a comprehensive range of over 130 academic programs of study. Founded in 1946 as a branch college of Syracuse University, the school joined the State University of New York (SUNY) in 1950 to become one of the system's liberal arts colleges. Its designation as one of four SUNY university centers in 1965 spurred the school's evolution to a large research university. Along with sustained growth in enrollment, the university has earned perennial recognition at a national level for its high selectivity and academics,, and continually has the lowest acceptance rates and highest graduation rates among all SUNY campuses. The university is classified among R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity. Binghamton's athletic teams are the Bearcats and they compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The Bearcats are members of the America East Conference.

Binghamton University was established in 1946 in Endicott, New York, as Triple Cities College to serve the needs of local veterans returning from World War II. Thomas J. Watson, noted chairman and CEO of IBM, viewed the Triple Cities region of the state's Southern Tier as an area of great potential, given IBM's founding and prominent presence in Broome County. In the early 1940s he collaborated with local leaders to begin establishing Triple Cities College as a two-year junior college operating as a satellite of private Syracuse University. Watson also donated land that would become the school's early home. Originally, Triple Cities College students going on to a bachelor's degree finished their program at Syracuse. By the 1948–1949 academic year, the degrees could be completed entirely in Binghamton. In 1950, it split from Syracuse and became incorporated into the public State University of New York (SUNY) system as Harpur College, named in honor of Robert Harpur, a colonial teacher and pioneer who settled in the Binghamton area. Harpur College was designated one of only two liberal arts colleges in the system, which otherwise consisted of teaching colleges at the time. The other liberal arts college, Champlain College in Plattsburgh, closed in 1952 to make way for the Plattsburgh Air Force Base, and its records and library (along with some students and faculty) were transferred to Harpur College. Due to pressure from private colleges in the state, Harpur College remained SUNY's only liberal arts college for a decade, quickly earning a reputation for its academic rigor.

In 1955, Harpur began to plan its current location in Vestal, a town next to Binghamton. A site large enough to anticipate future growth was purchased, with the school's move to its new 387-acre (1.57 km2) campus being completed by 1961. Colonial Hall, Triple Cities College's original building in Endicott, stands today as the village's Visitor Center. In 1965, Harpur College was selected to join New York state schools Stony Brook University, Albany, and Buffalo as one of the four new SUNY university centers. Redesignated the State University of New York at Binghamton, the school's new name reflected its status as an advanced degree granting institution. In a nod to tradition, its undergraduate college of arts and sciences remained "Harpur College". With more than 60% of undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in Harpur's degree programs, it is the largest of Binghamton's constituent schools. In 1967, the School of Advanced Technology was established, the precursor to the Thomas J. Watson School of Engineering and Applied Science, which was founded in 1983. In 2020, the school became the Thomas J. Watson College of Engineering and Applied Science.

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