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Russell Sage College has reached its largest overall enrollment since 2015 with 2,831 students as the new academic year begins Monday, August 25.
“Russell Sage is having its moment because it’s meeting the needs of today. We’ve been in the top 25 of the U.S. News & World Report national rankings for social mobility for six years in a row. We have been recognized by Phi Theta Kappa on its Transfer Honor Roll for six years straight because of how well we serve transfer students,” said President Matthew Shaftel.
“We’re here for the first-time college student, the student looking to finish their bachelor’s degree, and the student looking to advance their career with graduate degrees all the way up through the doctoral level,” Shaftel continued. “And we do it with affordable programs that are matched to industry needs and are delivered in the ways students need them.”
Two consecutive years of incoming undergraduate classes of more than 400 students – the first such back-to-back years in a decade – are helping to fuel the growth.
Newer programs, including a unique education major that prepares students for triple certification in childhood education, early childhood education, and special education, a bachelor’s degree in forensic psychology, and the accelerated bachelor of science in nursing program are also driving growth. And new programs announced earlier this year – a bachelor’s degree in speech-language pathology and the only intercollegiate women’s flag football team in the Capital Region – are anticipated to play a factor in next year’s enrollment.
The college also rekindled its RN to B.S. in Nursing program for Registered Nurses who do not have a bachelor’s degree but need to earn one within 10 years of licensure under New York state regulations. That program is delivered primarily online with limited on-campus sessions. Many of these students have been supported by The Caring Gene, which provides full coverage for tuition and books to those new to or advancing their careers in any of 13 qualifying career fields in New York state.
Meanwhile, graduate program enrollment continues to climb. Once again, unique programs, including a Flex MBA program that allows students to take classes in-person, via livestream, or online on their own time and choose their mode from week to week, and the college’s partnership in New York City with the Center for Integrated Training and Education to deliver its Instructional Leadership (School Building Leader/School District Leader) program are adding to already robust graduate enrollment at the college.
“It’s an exciting time to be at Sage,” said Katie Cooney Lesko, vice president for enrollment management, persistence, and student success. “Everything about us is different in the best way. We’re a private college focused on affordability. Our Gator Gateway pathway helps undergraduate students navigate college, and our two campuses in Albany and Troy allow students to reap the benefits of both cities. More people are seeing us for the special college we are, and we’re looking forward to welcoming them to Sage.”
Of the 2,831 total enrollment, 43% are undergraduate students and 57% are graduate students. Enrollment figures are not considered final until an official enrollment census in October, and additional fall enrollment is expected before the census due to a later registration deadline for students in the New York City instructional leadership cohort.
This fall’s total enrollment is up 37% since just two years ago.
The growth is coming at an exciting time, as the college will begin a new strategic plan this fall and is planning for a historic merger.
In April, Russell Sage and Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, who share a campus border in Albany, announced plans for a strategic merger that will create the one of the region’s largest private institutions for higher education with the broadest catalog of programs in the health professions, pharmacy, and biomedical sciences, and and strong programs in education, business, criminal justice, the sciences, pre-med, pre-health, and arts and humanities.
After signing a transaction agreement in July, both institutions are seeking approvals from the New York State Education Department and the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE). The anticipated completion date of those processes is summer 2026. The merger will then go through federal review, with an anticipated completion date of fall 2027.
The combined institution will enroll an anticipated 4,000 students on campuses in Albany and Troy, New York, as well as online, making it the third-largest private institution for higher education in the Capital Region.
In parallel with the merger process, Russell Sage intends to seek regulatory approvals to be called Russell Sage University. ACPHS will retain its unique identity as Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences at Russell Sage, with a School of Pharmacy and a School of Biomedical and Health Sciences. The merger will result in a unified institution with combined assets of approximately $246 million, including $115 million in endowment investments.