A Top College for Long Island–Two Cheers

The New York Times at year end caught up with a significant academic story in its backyard, the emergence of Stony Brook University on Long Island as a prestige state research institution. But, being today’s Times, it had to worry whether this “will come at the cost of equity.” As a newly minted flagship of the State University of New York (SUNY) system, with a fattened endowment from private sources, Stony Brook is attracting more competitive applicants. If it stays midsized, that could displace less capable students and/or cause lesser branches of SUNY to lag further. Which could happen, but the upside is a potentially tremendous boon to high-value output from Suffolk County as graduates stay and form enterprises or work in technical fields. Stony Brook sits near Long Island Sound, between the old-money Gold Coast of Nassau County and the affluent twin forks of the East End. It’s an hour’s drive from most of the Hamptons; despite the area’s bounties, it has lacked a higher-ed magnet. Stony Brook is particularly significant for a stretch of the island that is primed for growth in the years ahead. A state such as New York that is losing population, including high earners, might find this campus an apt investment in its future.