Rockland Community College (RCC) is a public community college in Rockland County, New York. It is part of the State University of New York. The college, established in 1959, became the 18th community college to join the SUNY system. The college offers 51 programs and offers associate degrees and certificates. The current enrollment is 6,859 students.
The main campus is in Suffern, New York, but classes are also offered at an extension sites in Nyack and Orangeburg.
History An institution called Rockland College, chartered by the state Board of Regents in 1878, existed for sixteen years in Nyack, New York but is not related to the current institution.
Rockland Junior College, supported by federal funds disbursed through New York State, and sponsored by Nyack High School was established in 1932 as one of several depression-era two-year schools. Rockland Junior College shut down in 1935.
The current Rockland Community College was founded in 1959. It was planned that it would raise taxes by only $4 a year. Between 1956 and 1970, Rockland's population was one of the fastest growing in the state, expected to double from 107,000 to 215,000 and the number of high school graduates was projected to rise from 700 to 2,463.
Large local industries like Avon Products in Suffern and Lederle Laboratories in Pearl River required more skilled workers, and the growth of Rockland County hospitals, Nyack Hospital and Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern warranted the creation of a nursing program.
Sixty-nine percent of parents polled expressed interest in their children attending a community college in Rockland County.
The Spring Valley satellite campus, sold for $4.2 million, has been discontinued. It was located in the historic North Main Street School. Instructions were discontinued at the Haverstraw Extension Center in 2020.
Academics Rockland Community College offers 40 associate degrees and 11 one-year certificate programs.
Rockland Community College has four schools: Business & Professional Studies; Arts, Education, Humanities, and Social Sciences; Nursing, Health, and Wellness; and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). The college also offers community educational, high school, microcredential, and workforce development programs.
In 2017 Rockland Community College was ranked the best community college in New York for adult learners in Washington Monthly's recent annual ranking of American colleges and universities. Rockland Community College rated twenty-eighth nationwide out of nearly 1,500 two-year colleges.RCC Named #1 Community College in New York for Adult Students The following year, the college was named the fifth Campus Pride's 2018 Best of the Best LGBTQ-Friendly Colleges & UniversitiesCampus Pride's 2018 Best of the Best LGBTQ-Friendly Colleges & Universities
In 2021, Rockland Community College received the Insight into Diversity Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) AwardRCC Receives Insight into Diversity Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award
Workforce Programs In 2022, Economic Mobility Workforce Innovation (EMWI) Division of Rockland Community College was introduced focusing on Workforce development that provides employment prospects in work markets by offering comprehensive certificate programs, including Emergency Medical Services (EMS), Medical credentials, Commercial Driver's License (CDL), Google IT, "stack-able" credentials and community educational programs such as Computer literacy and Scholastic Aptitude Test review courses. Afterward, manufacturing certification programs were offered.
Hospitality and Culinary Arts The Hospitality and Culinary Arts program at Rockland Community College is located Nyack, New York.RCC's Food Enthusiast Program Brings Together Great Food and Great Company
High School Program The Rockland Community College High School Program began in 2010. Rockland Community College academic departments have oversight of the curriculum, textbooks, and student assessments offered at the high schools. High school teachers who are college adjuncts teach the courses at the high schools. Rockland Community College participates in the New York Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships (NYCEP),New York Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships (NYCEP) which enables the college to network and share strategies of concurrent enrollment programs offered throughout SUNY community colleges.
English Skills Academy Program The English Skills Academy (ESA) have Intensive English Programs (IEP) for immigrant and non-immigrant students who need to improve their academic English skills prior to starting their degree (credit), Workforce development or community education (non-credit) programs at Rockland Community College.
Cambridge University Study Abroad Program Students must be at least 18 years of age and meet the requirement of a minimum 3.0 GPA and two faculty recommendations when classes begin at Cambridge University in July or August. Students can be from any college but must apply through the RCC Sam Draper M/TS Honors Program Office in Spring to be eligible.
Maritime Studies Program Rockland Community College offers the nation's first Maritime Studies Program works with a US Coast Guard-approved partner featuring online training with hands-on classroom instruction at the college's campuses. Through the RCC/Learn America program, Mariners seeking work on board any vessel are required to complete a Coast Guard-approved Basic Training course. Students also are able to sign up for any of the individual elements of the Basic Training course.RCC Maritime Studies Program the First of its Kind
State University of New York (SUNY), RCC and Local Programs Rockland Community College offer these educational and supporting programs helping students to achieve their specific goals. ASAP (Advancing Success in Associate Pathways)Advancing Success in Associate Pathways (ASAP) Cross Registration (Non-Matriculating and Visiting Students)Non-Matriculating and Visiting Students EDGE EDGE Program EOP EOP – Educational Opportunity Program FORD Asset Automotive Technician Fundamentals (in partnership with the Ford Motor Company) H.E.R.R.O.H.E.R.R.O. Program High School Dual Enrollment High School Dual Enrollment Program ERCSD Smart Scholars Smart Scholars Hudson Valley P-TECH Hudson Valley P-TECH Honors Honors Program SUNY Academic Momentum Campaign (English & Math)SUNY Academic Momentum Campaign SUNY Reconnect Free Community College for Adult Learners at SUNY TRIO <https://sunyrockland.edu/services/trio-scholars/ TRiO Scholars Program]
Accreditation The college is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.Rockland Community College Accredited Some specific programs are also programmatically accredited:
Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing, Inc (ACEN)Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing, Inc (ACEN) American Occupational Therapy Association Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy EducationAmerican Occupational Therapy Association Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education New York State Board of Regents, State Education Department, Office of the Professions (Nursing Education)New York State Board of Regents, State Education Department, Office of the Professions (Nursing Education) American Bar Association for the Legal Studies Program National Association for the Education of Young Children for childcare at the Theresa Morahan Simmons Center for Children and Families aka Campus Fun and Learn Center
Administration RCC is sponsored by the County of Rockland and operating and administered by a ten-member Rockland Community College Board of Trustees that is appointed pursuant to New York State Education Law § 6306. Nine of the Trustees serve seven-year terms, with five of those appointed by the county and four by the Governor. The tenth trustee is a voting, student representative.New York State Education Law § 6306. The board in turn appoints a President who hires and supervises the staff. RCC is a community college unit of the State University of New York and is also subject to regulation and visitation by the Regents of the University of the State of New York.
Presidents
Frank Mosher, 1960–1963 Seymour Eskow, 1963–1983 F. Thomas Clark, 1983–1992 Neil A Raisman, 1993–1997 George Hamada, 1998–2001 Thomas G. Voss, 2001–2003 (Interim) William J. Murabito, 2003–2004 (Interim) Clifford L. Wood, 2004–2017Goals and Gold Michael A Baston 2017–2022SUNY Board of Trustees and Rockland Community College Announce Presidential Appointment at RCCBio Bishop Michael Anthony Baston Susan Deer (Officer In Charge) 2022–2023 RCC Elevates Susan Deer & Katherine Lynch While College Seeks New President Lester Edgardo Sandres Rápalo, 2023 Rockland Community College Has Announced the Selection of the College's Eighth President Beth A. Coyle, (Officer in Charge), 2023–2024 Leadership Transition Announcement William P. Mullaney, 2025–present Rockland Community College Announces the Selection of New President
In June 2024, Rockland Community College appointed County Legislator Dana G. Stilley and Legislative Fiscal Director Moshe Gruber as its unanimous choices of the Rockland County Legislature's bipartisan Multi-Services Committee County Legislature Appoints Two To RCC Board after Rockland Community College and Lester Edgardo Sandres Rápalo parted ways after uncovering an $8 million deficit.
On Wednesday, June 26, 2024, the SUNY Rockland Community College Board of Trustees met and approved "Phase 3" which included a total of $2.6 million in jobs, positions, or roles at the college approved for termination to reduce the widely reported $5 million deficit that the college has faced. Several key positions were immediately eliminated, as well as 30-day notices given to at least one other longtime employee.RCC Firings, Layoffs and Dismissals Begin as Part of Multi-Million Dollar Plan to Fix $5 Million Deficit
Campus
The main campus and main entrance on Almshouse Road is located on the crest of a sloping rise in a former farm community known as Mechanicsville, renamed Viola when a post office was established in 1882. The original property included:
A wooden barn that was converted into a theater and assembly room in the second semester. Fields leased to local farmers that yielded tomatoes and cabbage. The college later acquired of farmland—100 to the south from the Hurschle Brothers Farm, and 50 to the west from the Springsteen Farm—for its current campus. The barn was used for registration, physical education classes, sports team practices, large classes and final exams, dance classes, student-faculty talent shows, worship services, films, guest lecture series, concert series, even war protest rallies. It also served as the College Barn Theater. The Barn burned in January 1979; in 1983 it was replaced by the Cultural Arts Center. A "potter's field" cemetery, the burial grounds for many of the Almshouse residents. Shortly after the college was founded, the county deeded a tract of land in the northern section for establishing a veterans' cemetery, which remains today. A small square building with barred windows that served as the first Rockland County jail, later the Ramapo town police headquarters, and still later a police radio station. It was converted into offices and men's locker rooms for the physical education program in the second semester. A narrow, tree-lined country lane known as Almshouse Road, which became an interior access road when the current College Road was built. The three-story, colonial design Almshouse. In front of the Almshouse was a wooden gazebo that stood standing until September 8, 2025. In 2016 Rockland Community College opened The 211 Connection Center which connects students to off-campus resources regarding health and human services such as housing, childcare, food, utilities, and legal.211 The Connection Center - We're here for you when life happens.