A Message from the Admissions and Financial Aid Office
After a great fall semester, we are looking forward to an exciting spring semester! Be on the lookout for the events we are hosting during the semester, such as in-person Open Houses and campus visits.
Throughout the fall, we have been busy reviewing thousands of applications for the upcoming spring 2024 and fall 2024 semesters! Alfred State also hosted several instant decision days with high schools and BOCES campuses. If you’d like to host one in the future, please email Alfred State Admissions at Admissions@alfredstate.edu! For additional counselor resources, please visit our School Counselors | Alfred State site. You can find your counselor here: Meet Your Counselor | Alfred State.
The FAFSA Simplification Act represents a significant overhaul to federal student aid starting with the 2024-25 award year. Major changes are coming including expanded eligibility for federal student aid and a more streamlined application process. As a result, the new FAFSA form will be available by December 31, 2023.
We can't wait to share with you and your students all our exciting developments. If you need anything at all, please contact us at 1-800-425-3733 or by email!
Sincerely, Alfred State Admissions & Financial Aid Office
Spring Visit Opportunities
Spring Open Houses
Spring Open Houses are Sunday, March 24, and Saturday, April 13. These will include in-person presentations on academics, admissions, financial aid, information booths, and guided tours.
Alfred & WellsvilleOne-on-one or Group Visits
Campus Tours and Group Visits will become available starting Jan. 29, 2024. Come see for yourself what Alfred State has to offer! Prospective students and guests will enjoy a guided campus tour, academic department tour, meeting with an Admissions Counselor and meeting with a Financial Aid Counselor. Registration is now open!
OnlineVirtual Admissions Overviews and Virtual Tours
These will be offered on Wednesdays this semester. Learn more about Alfred State by registering for this program.
Accepted Student Days
This year we are hosting five accepted student days! Students who have been accepted will be invited to come to campus for a day that has been designed for students to celebrate their acceptance into the Pioneer family!
Students will connect with current Alfred State students, tour campus, meet with various department representatives, learn more about student life, and get to know some of their classmates.
Feb. 29, 2024 | General Program (all majors)
March 20, 2024 | School of Applied Technology
April 9, 2024 | School of Arts and Sciences
April 10, 2024 | School of Architecture Management and Engineering Technology
Alfred State College (ASC) once again ranked as the No. 1 SUNY Regional College by US News and climbed to No. 8 among all public and private regional colleges across 11 states and the District of Columbia.
The Alfred State Career Development Office recently hosted an etiquette dinner in the Allegany room for students. Attendees learned the ins and outs of formal business dining.
Building Trades and Heavy Equipment students assist local trail
Alfred State students in the building trades and heavy equipment programs assisted by building and placing a new bridge on Trail 2 of Phillips Creek State Forest.
In an effort for Dr. Carrie Cokely to fully immerse herself into the hands-on education taught at the college she has been joining classes on both the Alfred and Wellsville campus.
ASC Spotlight Jessica Hutchison | Growing the Future
Jessica Hutchison is excited about the future of agriculture education and the remodeling plans of the Agriculture Building.
One of the deepest educational roots at Alfred State is the agriculture program. Those roots are growing stronger with committed faculty including Jessica Hutchison.
Jessica has taught in the agriculture and veterinary department at Alfred State since 2010 after starting her teaching career at Cameron University (Lawton, OK). After teaching mostly general biology classes, the move to Alfred allowed her to get back to her roots.
“To be able to teach classes like soils, botany, vegetable and fruit production, and organic agriculture was right up my alley and a match made in heaven.”
Jessica uses an active learning model in her classes and was excited to see others at Alfred State using similar approaches. “I embrace active learning games, having my students outside doing scavenger hunts, and participating in civic engagement initiatives. We are outside from week one and our students are doing real things. They get excited knowing that they are helping others.”
Learning from real-world situations keeps her students engaged. “I find that doing a civic engagement project makes the students feel like what they are doing has value. It is making the world better. It motivates them to learn something and give back.”
Her students have helped a local ancient apple orchard, partnered with local gardeners to help solve their problems, and every school year they raise and hold adoption events for praying mantis.
Teaching a class that includes a mix of students who grew up in farming and those who are new is important to Jessica and the others in her department. "Less than 1% of people in the United States are full-time farmers. Those people grow all our food, plus some for export. The average age of those farmers is 58 years old. Therefore, we need new people in farming."
The agriculture program has access to hands-on space on the college farm, but the classroom, laboratory, and greenhouse located in the Agriculture Building will soon get a complete makeover. “I am excited that this building and the greenhouse are being renovated. "We teach innovative techniques in our programs to make sure that students are prepared for the modern world. Having our building technology on par with the technical work we already do with our students will be great."
Jessica wants to expand her roots and develop connections to other educational programs internationally. She was recently accepted into the Fulbright Specialist Program.
“I was first inspired to apply for it because we work with the Cornell Humphrey Fellows every fall. We are a partner institution with them, and they interact with our students in our classes. The program was designed to increase international exchange in the academic world.”
Hutchison at the college farm.
Jessica has looked at opportunities to travel to Kuwait, Jordan, and the Slovak Republic thus far. “It is super exciting. I cannot wait to find the right opportunity and go. I hope to form a lasting relationship between Alfred State and the host institution. It would be cool if I could set up a faculty or student exchange program.”
Jessica has seen lots of changes at the school since her arrival but thinks the future is bright. “This time period right now has gotten me excited. I feel like the dream team is assembled, we have all the necessary players, and we have a new building and greenhouse coming. It fills me with excitement for what I am going to be able to do in the next couple of years.”
Student Spotlight Mattison Buckley
Mattison Buckley (Wellsville, NY) chose to stay close to home when she enrolled in the associate degree criminal justice at Alfred State but the connections she has made with her professors and the college community have her now pursuing her bachelor's degree in the field and a minor in psychology.
“At first, I was more interested in getting an associate degree and then I met my incredible advisor who swayed me into switching to the four-year program. I have learned so much from my professors. Criminal justice is so broad, there are so many different opportunities in it.”
Learning from professors who have been in the field has helped Mattison’s learning experience. “Listening to them speak makes me feel like I am right in their experiences. They do a great job of capturing what they have gone through and what has gotten them to where they are today. It is cool to be able to see that perspective.”
Connections outside the classroom have made Alfred feel at home. Mattison ran cross country her first semester and has worked in the admissions office as a tour guide during her time on campus but running the college’s student marketing/media platform, the Bandwagon, has opened new opportunities.
“Bandwagon has switched from a radio station into a space where we produce music and podcasts and create video and Instagram content. I am excited about the vision; we want people to be interested in life on campus. I am learning how to do different things, I am the treasurer, making purchases, creating content, and setting up agendas and time slots.”
Mattison encourages others to come to Alfred because the community cares about you. “They are not in it because it is a big fancy place. They are in it because they care about the individual students themselves. They want to see you do the best that you can with the time that you have here. I just love being in Alfred, it just feels like home.”
Alfred State has given Mattison the evidence to produce a bright future.
Academic Spotlight Dr. Baltimore
Dr. Baltimore, an American virologist, shared the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1975 with Homar M. Temin and Renato Dulbecco. The research of all three men contributed to an understanding of the role of viruses in the development of cancer.
"Learning has to include diverse and engaging experiences, both inside and outside the classroom,” commented Bauer. “As an educator, I fully embrace this approach in my teaching. The rare opportunity for my virology students to interact with Dr. David Baltimore, a scientist whose work has provided an understanding of and subsequently shaped so many aspects of modern science, including pharmaceuticals, is one which I hope will inspire my students to know that they each can achieve anything they want to in life if they work hard and follow their true passion."
Alfred State President Dr. Steve Mauro, whose education and teaching background is in biology, introduced Dr. Baltimore before the students were able to ask questions. “Dr. Baltimore’s scientific work and expertise have influenced policy and launched the careers of thousands of individuals. It was his research that was pivotal in my own decision to pursue science as a career when I was an undergraduate.”
“He is a legend in the scientific world, and we are honored and grateful that he has given his time to speak to our students to make them aware of what an enriching experience a life in pursuit of discovery can be.”
Baltimore has contributed to immunology, virology, cancer research, biotechnology, and recombinant DNA research during his career. He spent years teaching at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research before moving into academic administration and presidential roles at Rockefeller University and the California Institute of Technology.
