SUNY Fredonia in top 10 - out of field of 572

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• published: 30 Sep 2010
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By: Caitlin Kupiec Maybe there is something to be said for the old expression, “Work hard, play hard.” Typically, most people perceive SUNY Fredonia as a big party school. Some would argue every college is a party school. But clearly the students must be doing more than just hanging out in the bars downtown. The US World and News ranked SUNY Fredonia 10th overall in the top public and private universities in the northeast. That’s ranked 10th out of 572 universities that hand out bachelors and master’s degrees. Fredonia jumped four places since last year’s ranking in 2009 as 14th overall. Michael Barone, the head of the public relations department says the past three years, they have received record applications from prospective students. Admissions have had to turn away a lot of students that normally would have been accepted due to such a high demand. “This means that these students are coming in with the best mix of high school GPAs, S.A.T. scores, A.C.T scores, and really an overall well roundedness that we really look for in our students,” said Barone. The students seem to be responding positively to the recent ranking of 10th place. “I think it’s actually really great because people give SUNY schools a bad rep and I don’t like that. I think it’s great that we just got a high ranking. It shows everyone SUNY schools are fantastic, they’re not crap schools,” said Suzanne Constantinou, a sophomore math education major. The ranking puts SUNY Fredonia as one of the top SUNY schools which is an honor and speaks volumes about a university whose weekend, for the students, usually begins Wednesday night and doesn’t end until Sunday. “It might have a reputation of being more of a party school, but students are very focused on their work and getting it done and doing well,” said Allie Dole, a senior adolescent ed. major. The ranking gives students who attend Fredonia an advantage in future job opportunities also. “It reflects on my education, my future, when I go to get a job or something. It is good to go to a campus that is prestigious a little bit I guess,” said Devon Sczudlo, a junior accounting major who spoke about the ranking. The ranking is obviously a good thing in the eyes of the Fredonia administration, but Barone was very humbled by ranking 10th. “Pleased is the right word. We are not giddy, we’re not ecstatic, we are not jumping up and down, and we don’t live and die by these rankings. You know, we just make sure that we run a good university, we educate good students, and everything else takes care of itself,” said Barone.