Educational Opportunity Program

 

The Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) at SUNY Old Westbury promotes the enrollment, academic achievement and graduation of New York State students who demonstrate the potential to excel in higher education, but have experienced economic and educational opportunity gaps. SUNY Old Westbury EOP works intentionally to foster the intellectual, ethical and personal development required for our students to become engaged leaders dedicated to creating a more just and sustainable world.

The State University of New York's Arthur O. Eve Educational Opportunity Program provides access, academic support and financial aid to students who show promise for succeeding in college but who may not have otherwise been offered admission. Available primarily to full-time, matriculated students, the program supports students throughout their college careers within the University.

Now in operation for more than 50 years, EOP had its origins in the late 1960's, during the Rockefeller Administration. The Master Plan of the State University for 1964 set forth a long-range commitment that "every student capable of completing a program of higher education should have the opportunity to do so." In 1967, then first-year Assemblyman Arthur O. Eve of Buffalo gave further force to the principles of access and opportunity by developing the appropriation bill that gave birth to the Educational Opportunity Program.

EOP now exists on 55 SUNY campuses. Educational Opportunity Program graduates number more than 80,000. Most alumni continue to live in New York, enriching its economic and social fabric by working as physicians, teachers, scientists, engineers, attorneys, artists, entrepreneurs and public servants. And, many have returned to SUNY to serve as EOP administrators and counselors who provide support to another generation of opportunity students.