{"id":41549,"date":"2026-05-19T10:35:55","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T14:35:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/?p=41549"},"modified":"2026-05-19T12:09:47","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T16:09:47","slug":"empire-state-university-offers-extensive-curriculum-for-those-seeking-degrees-online","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2026\/05\/empire-state-university-offers-extensive-curriculum-for-those-seeking-degrees-online\/","title":{"rendered":"Empire State University Offers Extensive Curriculum For Those Seeking Degrees Online"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
President Lisa Vollendorf leads Empire State University, New York state\u2019s online public university.
Courtesy Empire State University<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Rod Bacon<\/p>\n

Empire State University was founded with the mission of providing adult student-centered education.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As New York State\u2019s only online public university, it has graduated 105,000 alumni since it was established as a college in 1971. Currently, there are 18,500 students enrolled from all 50 states. The youngest graduate is 19 and the oldest is 83. The school is growing at 10 percent per year.<\/p>\n

According to President Lisa Vollendorf, Ph.D., there are significant challenges facing education today that are addressed by the school. She said there is a lot of questioning around whether there is true value to a college degree.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a whole generation who have accumulated a lot of debt going to college and are having a difficult time paying down that debt,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition, there are about 42 million Americans with some college but no credential, meaning they took some college at some point but never graduated.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThose two things together have created real challenges in the eyes of the public and policy makers around the true value of college and what the investment should be in college on the part of taxpayers,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Dr. Vollendorf emphasized that these challenges were not created by Empire State or institutions like it. Undergraduate tuition is less than $7,500 and credit is awarded for prior learning.<\/p>\n

\u201cEmpire has a long tradition of being committed to full transferability,\u201d she said. \u201cOne of the things that happens in education is people attend one college and transfer to another but a lot of the time more than forty percent of credits aren\u2019t transferable. We award up to ninety-three transfer credits.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/span><\/span>The school offers online courses leading to more then 25 undergraduate degrees and five undergraduate certificates, as well as 29 graduate degrees and 27 graduate certificates. Eighty-four percent of students receive financial aid or scholarships. A variety of programs focus on military veterans or those actively serving.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There is an in-person apprenticeship program through\u00a0 <\/span>Local Union No. 3 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers held at the Empire State University Harry Van Arsdale Jr. School of Labor Studies in New York City in which students graduate with their journeyman card and an associate\u2019s degree after a five-year apprenticeship.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Through its Center for International Education it offers in-person courses at sites in Albania, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Greece, Lebanon, and Turkey.<\/p>\n

Dr. Vollendorf has over 30 years experience in higher education, much of it in the California State University system. She was a faculty member at Long Beach State, a dean at San Jose State, and a provost at Sonoma State.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Since accepting the position as president in 2022 she has implemented many forward-looking initiatives.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In March 2023 the school transitioned from a college to a university, making it the first and only public online university in the state.<\/p>\n

She also established a partnership with Northwell Health, New York State\u2019s largest healthcare network and private employer. Together, she said, they are responsive to workforce needs and are helping to create more qualified healthcare workers across the state.<\/p>\n

The school works with the state to address workforce shortages. It currently has a $1 million grant to help paraprofessionals in education earn bachelor\u2019s degrees, giving them a pathway to a teaching career.<\/p>\n

Integral to the success of the university is the Empire State University Foundation, a 510(c)(3) nonprofit organization that raises private funds to support student scholarships, academic programs, and university infrastructure.<\/p>\n

In December 2025 the foundation purchased the historic Clarke House in Saratoga Springs from Cathy and Elliott Masie for $2.5 million. This was made possible, in part, due to a $1.1 million gift from the Masies.<\/p>\n

According to Amanda Sbriscia, Ed.D., vice president for advancement and executive director of the Empire State Foundation, renovations expected to cost under $1 million are currently underway and scheduled to be completed by late summer. The home will serve as a venue for donor cultivation, alumni gatherings, community engagement, and other official university functions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a tremendous amount of passion for the work Empire State University does to enable students to achieve their dreams of higher education,\u201d she said. \u201cWhat is so wonderful about the Clarke Hose project is that it will be a space to do more of that work because we\u2019ll be bringing people together to talk about philanthropy.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Rod Bacon Empire State University was founded with the mission of providing adult student-centered education.\u00a0 As New York State\u2019s only online public university, it has graduated 105,000 alumni since it was established as a college in 1971. Currently, there are 18,500 students enrolled from all 50 states. The youngest graduate is 19 and the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":89,"featured_media":41550,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41549","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-news"],"yoast_head":"\r\nEmpire State University Offers Extensive Curriculum For Those Seeking Degrees Online - Saratoga Business Journal<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2026\/05\/empire-state-university-offers-extensive-curriculum-for-those-seeking-degrees-online\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Empire State University Offers Extensive Curriculum For Those Seeking Degrees Online - Saratoga Business Journal\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Rod Bacon Empire State University was founded with the mission of providing adult student-centered education.\u00a0 As New York State\u2019s only online public university, it has graduated 105,000 alumni since it was established as a college in 1971. 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