Purchase College

Purchase College, SUNY, also known as SUNY Purchase, is a public college best known for the rare combination of professional conservatory training in the visual and performing arts and rigorous liberal arts and sciences education on a single campus.

Overall, Purchase is known for small class sizes, a curious, unconventional, and civic-minded student body that shows boundless creativity regardless of major, faculty who are active practitioners in their fields, proximity to New York City, and a collaborative and inclusive campus culture.

While students may compete to get into the conservatories, they find an incredibly supportive community once on campus. The proximity to New York City attracts professionals as adjunct professors (many who also teach at brand-name private schools) as well as guest lecturers and masterclass instructors.

Its Senior Project requirement—unique among small public liberal arts colleges—in which all students complete a year-long original inquiry into a topic of their choosing under the one-on-one mentorship of faculty, may take the form of performances, exhibitions, research projects, films, etc., and often serves as a springboard into post-graduate study or career paths.

Conservatory of Dance

Specifically, its Conservatory of Dance remains one of the top professional dance training programs in the United States, graduating generations of dance leaders, including Terese Capucilli ’78, Doug Varone ’78, Nicolo Fonte ’87, Christalyn Hampton ’91,Rosalynde LeBlanc ’94, Kyle Abraham ’00, Gilbert T. Small, II ’09, Tanairi Vazquez ’10, Rena Butler ’11, Jenelle Figgins ’11, Samantha Figgins ’11, Connie Shiau ’12, Tamisha Guy ’13, Hannah Garner’15, Keerati Jinakunwiphat ’16, Demi Remick ’18, Quaba Venza Ernest ’19, Dava Huesca ’19, Symara Sarai ’19, and more.

Conservatory of Music

Its Conservatory of Music attracts incredible talent across genres, who contribute to Purchase’s well-regarded music scene, in and out of the conservatory. Top-tier facilities include nine recording studios for Studio Production majors to capture the talent of peers in Studio Composition, Jazz Studies, and other programs. Notable alumni include six-time Grammy winner Samara Joy ’21, who won the Grammy for Best New Artist in 2023, as well as Katie Kresek ’98, ’99, Regina Spektor ’01, Anthony Parrino ’04, Dan Romer ’04, Dan Deacon ’04, Cyrille Aimée ’09, Mitski ’13, Edward W. Hardy ’14, Jenny Owen Youngs, Jenny O., and Langhorne Slim. It’s also the birthplace of many musical acts whose members hail from within the conservatory and without, including Cende, Dufus, Field Mouse, Kiss Kiss, Lip Critic, LVL UP, O’Death, Porches, Sheer Mag, and Quincy Vidal, among many others. Graduate and post-baccalaureate programs include Master’s Degree/MM, Artist Diploma, and Performer’s Certificate.

Conservatory of Theatre Arts

Its Conservatory of Theatre Arts, home to the Acting BFA program that’s ranked among the Top 25 Drama Programs in the world (Hollywood Reporter), is known for the intensity of its professional preparation and hands-on immersion. Each year, the Purchase Repertory Theatre presents several seasonal productions that bring actors, designers, and technicians together in a professional theatre environment.

The Acting BFA program has produced scores of critically acclaimed actors Jodi Long ’76, Jay O. Sanders ’76, Robert Clohessy ’81, Stanley Tucci ’82, Steven Weber ’83, Edie Falco ’84, Wesley Snipes ’84, Parker Posey, Shea Whigham ’93, Nicco Annan ’98, Marjan Neshat ’98, Malcolm Goodwin ’03, Zoë Winters ’07, Carter Hudson ’09, James Ortiz ’10, Jason Ralph ’10, Chris Perfetti ’11, Micah Stock ’11, Marcus Callender ’12, Caleb Eberhardt ’12, Jasai Chase-Owens ’17, Sean Kaufman ’22, and Daniel Bravo Hernández ’24.

The Theatre Design/Technology BFA program produces behind-the-scenes professionals for stage and screen, including acclaimed costume, lighting, prop, and set designers and stage managers such as Brian MacDevitt ’80, Ina Mayhew ’81, David Grill ’86, Suzanne McCabe ’86, James Youmans ’86, Jeff Croiter ’93, Thom Widmann ’90, Jennifer Schriever ’04, Heather Wolensky ’05, Melissa Shakun MFA ’08, and Kat DeNeve ’12.

School of Art+Design

Purchase College is an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD). Its School of Art+Design is known for the fluidity between the visual arts disciplines. Far from being siloed into a major/medium like most art schools, all first-year students begin with a full-year Foundations course that builds an art-making foundation by offering exposure to all art forms available at Purchase as well as peer mentoring. The envy of New York City art schools, the Visual Arts building offers 160,000 square feet of space, including private studios for seniors. Two interdisciplinary majors include the Visual Arts BFA, allowing students to mix two media (sculpture and photography, printmaking and painting and drawing, etc.) and the Visual Arts BS (known as the BSVA) which allows the mix of visual arts practice with a major outside of the visual arts (photography and journalism, painting and drawing and chemistry, English and global literature and printmaking, etc). Graduate degrees offered include a Visual Arts MFA and a combined Visual Arts MFA/Art History MA dual degree program.

Noted alumni include noted artists Katherine Bradford MFA ’88, Tom Burckhardt ’86, Ingrid Calame ’87, Gregory Crewdson ’85, Barbara Glauber ’84, Kris Graves ’04, Jason Hanasik ’03, Lucia Hierro ’10, Alix Pearlstein MFA ’88, Michael Rakowitz ’95, Camille Seaman ’92, Leta Sobierajski ’10, Khalif Tahir Thompson ’18, Laura Vaccaro Seeger ’80, and Fred Wilson ’76.

Current faculty include artists Tom Burckhardt, Bill Deere, Stella Ebner, Kate Gilmore, Cassandra Hooper, Sharon Horvath, Robert Kozma, Julian Kreimer, Cynthia Lin, Joshua Lutz, Deborah Mesa-Pelly, Rachel Owens, Timothy Samara, Deena So Oteh, Rob Swainston, Hakan Topal, and Jo Ann Walters.

School of Film and Media Studies

Its School of Film and Media Studies—home to the Film BFA program, recognized by The Hollywood Reporter as among the best NYC-area film schools—has produced award-winning writers, directors, editors, cinematographers, performers, critics, entrepreneurs, and more.

Its Film BFA program is known for training students in all aspects of filmmaking in both documentary and narrative genres: directing, cinematography, editing, production, screenwriting, and film analysis. Its graduates have made lasting cultural marks and earned recognition at major festivals, such as Cannes and Sundance, including Chris Wedge ’81, Hal Hartley ’84, Michael Spiller ’84, James Spione ’85, Bob Gosse ’86, Nick Gomez ’88, Tom Cross ’93, Andrew Buckland ’94, Azazel Jacobs ’94, Ilya Chaiken ’95, Jessica Brunetto ’04, Mattson Tomlin ’12, and Vuk Lungulov-Klot ’16.

And its New Media BA program, an arts-based liberal arts program, blends computer science, visual arts, culture, history, and sciences, offering ample opportunities for hands-on learning and for tailoring an individualized path through the major. Alumni have followed a wide variety of career paths, including visual and performing arts, content creation, creative direction, UX and software design, education, film and video production, emerging tech, entrepreneurship, and more. Notable alumni include singer/songwriter Grace Ives ’18, artist and educator Joshua Tonsfeldt ’04, software designer Helena Jaramillo ’14, and emerging tech innovator Tim Clark ’10.

School of Humanities

Graduates of the academically rigorous School of Humanities include comedian and actress Susie Essman ’77, Pulitzer Prize- winning journalist Michael Powell ’78, New York Times film critic Manohla Dargis ’85, Oscar-nominated filmmaker Geeta Gandbhir ’92, critically acclaimed novelist Garth Greenwell ’01, award-winning poet Danniel Schoonebeek ’08, New York Times bestselling author Claribel Ortega ’10, Signal Award-winning journalist, podcast host, and producer T.J. Raphael ’11, artist and professor Ivan Forde ’12, author and editor Jiaming Tang ’18, breaking news writer for The New RepublicEllie Houghtaling ’19, and television weather forecaster and reporter Josiah Acheampong ’25. Graduate programs offered include an MA in Art History and a dual MA Art History/MFA Visual Arts.

School of Liberal Studies

The School of Liberal Studies is known for its interdisciplinary majors and the Arts Management BA. Noted alumni include

Adriana Arguelles ’13, Special Projects Lead, Meta; Jonathan Campozano, Esq. ’14, immigration attorney; Angela Galli ’19, Warner Music Group; Jeff Levin ‘10, Atlantic Records Executive Vice President and Co-Head of A&R, Pop & Rock; Rachael Pazdan ’11, event producer and music booking expert; Jason Rodriguez ’12, actor, dancer, and talent agent; Miguel Sanchez ’15, Associate Director of JD Admissions at Pace Law; Lily Thrall ’14, Vice President of Video and Art Operations at Atlantic Records; Katherine Veliz ’14, Development Officer for Campaigns at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City; and Taylor Ann Weber ’19, Assistant District Attorney, Kings County, Brooklyn, NY. Also offers a graduate MA program in Arts and Cultural Management.

School of Natural and Social Sciences

Finally, its School of Natural and Social Sciences is known for its dedicated faculty, who love teaching and provide opportunities for real-world research with professional-grade equipment. Without graduate programs in the sciences, Purchase undergraduates often assume the hands-on lab roles typically taken by grad students at larger research universities. That could account for Purchase ranking in the top ten among public liberal arts colleges for the percentage of graduates who earn PhDs in their fields, according to the National Science Foundation survey. Faculty have been awarded major grants, including $2 million from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), $500,000 from New York State’s Department of Environmental Conservation, a $107,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, and several competitive National Institute for Mental Health grants.

Notable alumni include Adotei Akwei ’84, Interim Chief Collaboration Officer at Amnesty International USA; John Ambroseo ’83, former president and CEO of Coherent; renowned cancer researcher and Hunter College professor Jill Bargonetti ’85; Karen T. Beltran, Esq. ’02, Yonkers City Court Judge and the first woman of color named president of the Westchester County Bar Association in its 130-year history; stock market analyst Reuben Gregg Brewer ’94; corporate lawyer Devon Donohue ’19; independent filmmaker Abel Ferrara ’74; the late David Graeber ’82, author and professor who coined the term “We are the 99%”; Jessica Hentoff ’77, circus artist and educator; BASF research chemist Jaya Mohanan Lakshmi ’99; journalist and author Adam Nagourney ’77; Maxwell Pearce ’18, Harlem Globetrotter and visual artist; Nomi Prins ’86, journalist, analyst, and editor; ecologist and author Carl Safina ’77; Erin Sullivan ’12, travel photographer, writer, influencer; Latrice M. Walker ’01, attorney and NYS Assemblywoman; photographer and filmmaker Harvey Wang ’77; and Janette Yarwood ’96, Director for Africa and the Middle East at Yale University’s Office of International Affairs. Now offering a post-baccalaureate certificate in Pre-Medical Studies to take courses necessary prepare for professional or graduate school programs in medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine, and other health careers, along with expert advising.

NCAA Division III Athletics

Purchase also offers 16 men’s and women’s athletic teams that compete in the NCAA Division III Skyline Conference.

Yes. Purchase College is one of 64 campuses in the State University of New York (SUNY) system and one of SUNY’s 13 four-year comprehensive “university colleges.”

SUNY is the largest comprehensive public university system in the United States. Purchase offers affordable in-state tuition rates to New York residents, and its out-of-state tuition is sometimes less than some states’ in-state tuition.

It’s both, which is what makes it unusual. Purchase College offers rigorous BA and BS programs across the humanities, natural sciences, social sciences, liberal arts, and media studies alongside professional training in dance, film, music, theatre, and visual arts—all on one campus. It’s an unusual combination found at very few public colleges nationwide.

 You don’t have to choose between a liberal arts education and serious arts training. At Purchase, they both inform and inspire one another to produce well-rounded, culturally aware citizens.

Creative types thrive at Purchase College—in all majors, not just the arts. Students who have never quite fit a single category find their people here, alongside students who have been dialed into their art form since childhood. What they share is curiosity, a willingness to collaborate across disciplines, and an appetite for small classes with faculty who know their name.

Who else does well here? Students who:

• Appreciate the arts—those who want to study psychology and attend a dance performance on the same afternoon, or want to study journalism and still play guitar in a band.
• Crave the intellectual and personal freedom to be exactly who they are, and curious about who else they might become.
• Value collaboration and jump in to do whatever it takes to finish a project.
• Think across disciplines, like a painter who studies chemistry to mix their own paint, an environmental studies major who creates jewelry inspired by insects, and a biology major and entrepreneur with a custom cake design side hustle.
• Think critically and seek small classes with direct access to faculty members who know their names.

Students who arrive at Purchase as one thing often leave as several—and they do it 35 miles from New York City, which is close enough to matter and far enough to stay focused.

It’s a profile that translates: 92% of Purchase graduates are employed or enrolled in graduate school within months of commencement.