College Facts

Onondaga at a glance fact sheet (pdf)

Community College Facts

• Health care: 59% of new nurses and the majority of other new health-care workers are educated at community colleges.
  • Onondaga Community College health care grads (nursing, physical therapist assistant, respiratory care, surgical technology) enjoy a near 100% job placement rate.
   
• Workforce training: 95% of businesses and organizations that employ community college graduates recommend community college workforce education and training programs.
• International programs: Close to 100,000 international students attend community colleges, about 39% of all international undergraduate students in the United States.
  • Students from more than 20 countries attend Onondaga each year.
  • 65 students from Ghana are earning Onondaga credit through a work internship at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida.
   
• Homeland security: Close to 80% of firefighters, law enforcement officers, and EMTs are credentialed at community colleges.
  • Home to the CNY police academy, Onondaga trains the majority of law enforcement personnel in upstate New York.
   
• Online education:  Students at 41% of public community colleges can earn a degree entirely online and 92% of all institutions offer at least one Internet-based course.
  • Onondaga offers seven degrees and one certificate programs entirely online. Several other degrees are offered more than 60% online.
   
• Earnings: The average expected lifetime earnings for a graduate with an associate degree are $1.6 million, about $.4 million more than a high school graduate earns.