About the College
Who we are
Onondaga Community College is a two-year college, originally founded in 1961, with two locations: a 280-acre main campus in Syracuse, New York, and a nearby satellite location in Liverpool, New York. OCC operates under the State University of New York (SUNY) system and is locally sponsored by Onondaga County.
We pride ourselves on offering a quality education at an affordable price, and are the first public college in the nation to partner with Barnes & Noble College on the “Box of Books” program, which provides students with flat-rate, predictable pricing for textbooks and technology. Helping students succeed is a key element of our long-term goal outline, known as Lazer Focus, and our partnership with Achieving the Dream, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping all students succeed, regardless of income or race.
OCC is annually recognized nationally as a Military Friendly School for our commitment to Student Veterans. Their home on campus is the Office of Veterans and Military Services. Our commitment to sustainability, environmental responsibility, and keeping central New York a beautiful place to live has earned recognition as one of “The 10 Best Green Schools in America 2018” by The Knowledge Review, a “Green College” by the Princeton Review, and a “Cool School” by the Sierra Club.
Sports continue to be a pillar of student involvement on campus and our 17 athletics teams, The Lazers, have won 16 national championships including men's lacrosse, men's basketball and women's lacrosse.
OCC's history, in photos
Mission + Vision
Onondaga Community College is Central New York’s partner in education for success. Achieving our mission through:
- Student Access, Retention, Completion, Transfer
- Academic Excellence
- Student Engagement and Support
- Career and Workforce Advancement
- Responsible Stewardship of Resources
- Community Engagement
Our Core Values
- Student First – Keep students at the center of all we do.
- Learning – Embrace the lifelong pursuit of knowledge and free expression of ideas in a safe environment to advance the individual and the community.
- Excellence – Strive for continual improvement and innovation to seek our highest potential.
- Diversity – Enrich learning through an inclusive campus environment that respects human dignity and difference.
- Community – Foster active and productive participation in building a mutually supportive environment for members of the campus and broader communities.
- Responsibility – Build a culture of integrity and accountability to develop both self and others.
Institutional Learning Outcomes
An education at Onondaga inspires students to:
Learn
- Skills and acquire knowledge that will benefit them in their academic, professional, and personal lives
- Responsible ways to gather information and use technology
- Effective ways to exchange ideas with others
Think
- Critically about problems and creatively about solutions
- Carefully about their own ideas and the ideas of others
- Earnestly about how they relate to other people and the world around them
Act
- In ways that demonstrate and promote good citizenship
- Ethically in their academic, professional, and personal lives