The presidents of Nassau Community College, Suffolk County Community College and SUNY Old Westbury gathered on May 9, 2025, to sign agreements designed to support students from Long Island who want to continue their studies on Long Island.
Through these agreements, three students annually from each community college campus who have earned their associates degrees will receive two-year, half-tuition “Stay on Long Island Scholarships” to attend SUNY Old Westbury. Funding for the scholarships is being provided by the Old Westbury College Foundation, Inc.
“Nassau’s and Suffolk’s community colleges support and educate Long Islanders from all of our communities, helping them adopt a growth mindset that can empower their careers,” said SUNY Old Westbury President Timothy E. Sams. “Through partnerships like the ‘Stay on Long Island Scholarship,’ we are strengthening our local pipeline and making higher education more accessible, affordable, and attainable.”
The new agreements represent a renewal of SUNY Old Westbury’s agreement with Suffolk County Community College, which was first awarded in in fall 2014, and an initiation of the scholarship with Nassau Community College.
“Community colleges are all about creating opportunity for students and serving the needs of area employers,” said Edward Bonahue, president of Suffolk County Community College. “Partnerships like the scholarship agreements being announced today, enable us to expand the number of academic options that are available to our students. The more attention educators put into developing agreements like this, the more marketable our regional workforce becomes and the more robust our area economy will be.”
“Nassau Community College students will benefit from the Stay on Long Island Scholarship, strengthening their opportunities for accessible and affordable higher education,” said Maria Conzatti, chief administrative officer at Nassau Community College. “This partnership is vital for our students as they seek out options to complete their education right here on Long Island.”
This spring, approximately 15 percent of the student body at SUNY Old Westbury enrolled on campus after having last attended the region’s community colleges.
“Encouraging and supporting the success of students pursuing higher education is a core principle of our organization,” said Nora Bassett, chair of Board of Trustees of the Old Westbury College Foundation, Inc. “We are proud to be able to support deserving students who are just starting out in their journey and who want to ‘Stay on Long Island.’”
Established in 1968, the Old Westbury College Foundation, Inc., is the not-for-profit corporation dedicated to assisting SUNY Old Westbury by generating philanthropic support for the campus and its students.