<p>A question on another thread starting me reminiscing, and I swear I remember getting a letter and a brochure and an invitation to attend “Empire State University” in New York City in 1967. I remember the picture of the school (dorm?) being a high rise downtown style building. I thought about attending (hey - its New Yawk, right?) </p>
<p>Problem is, now when I go looking for the school I can’t find any trace of an “Empire State University” in New York City. Somebody else must remember this - I think the same letter went out to all National Merit Semifinalists that year. Anybody??</p>
<p>Seriously, it was the 60’s, but itwasn’t the 60’s yet for me, if you know what I mean. Empire State U? Anyone???</p>
<p>with “35 convenient locations” in New York state. </p>
<p>Actually, from the web site, its part of the SUNY system and quite a bargain - tuition is $5000/term for out of state residents, only $2000/term for in-state. It apparently is geared to the needs of working adults, advertising individualized major programs and flexible study options plus distance learning. </p>
<p>So it probably is not such a great idea for our high schoolers - not the usual campus experience… I think its strictly for commuters or distance learning – but thanks for setting me off on the search. What a find for the older, trying-to-get-back on track set! It is fully accredited and results in a SUNY degree, and students are eligible for NY state financial aid (TAP) as well as for federal loans & grants.</p>
<p>Yeah - I found the college - but it’s upstate, and not a HS grad/NYC/highrise school like the one I remember. Still trying to figure out what happened to good ol’ ESU…</p>
<p>Well, the Empire State College with the 35 locations (all over the state) that I found was established in early 70’s… so it seems to me possible that the SUNY system had an “Empire State U.” that preceded the state college plan, and then it evolved into the current network. That would be very similar to the history of Antioch College and the various Antioch University branches on the private end – even in terms of time frame. It would be interesting to write to Empire State College to try to learn something of its history. (If it was a “State University” in New York it would probably have to have been part of the SUNY system – so maybe they had a university that was having enrollment/administrative/financial struggles by the end of the 60’s and went through a phase of reinventing itself n the 70’s).</p>
<p>Trying to track it down is made harder by the fact that “Empire State University” is apparently the alma mater of – Spiderman! I think the Fantastic 4 were affiliated with this august institution of higher learning as well. (Apparently Spiderman transferred to Columbia for Spiderman 2)</p>
<p>Googling this one is also hard because Empire State College is frequently referred to as Empire State University as well. But I have run across a variety of people who list ESU on their CV’s, even mentioning New York City in a couple of cases. So maybe it did exist, after all.</p>