In this section you will find information about higher education in the Hudson Valley.

Higher Education in the Hudson Valley

There are many institutions for higher education in our region, including: Mercy College, SUNY New Paltz, SUNY Westchester Community College, Marist College, Culinary Institute of America, Iona College, Dutchess Community College, SUNY Purchase, US Military Academy, Rockland Community College, Orange County Community College, College of New Rochelle, Manhattanville College, Vassar College, Mount Saint Mary College, Bard College, Nyack College, Sarah Lawrence College, Ulster County Community College, New York Medical College, St. Thomas Aquinas College, College of Westchester, LIU Hudson at Westchester, Ridley-Lowell Business and technical institute in Poughkeepsie, Westchester School for Dental Assistance, Southern Westchester BOCES-Practical Nursing Program, Ulster BOCES School of Practical Nursing, Cochran School of Nursing, and more.

Associates Degrees which lead to reliable and well paying jobs include: Engineering and architecture, Law enforcement, security and firefighting Healthcare, Construction, repair, manufacturing and transportation, Business management, administration and marketing, Agriculture, Social and human services and public administration, Science and math, Liberal arts, Law and legal studies, General studies, Computer science and information technology Audio, broadcasting, and multimedia technologies, administrative support, accounting , finance, insurance and real estate.

Things to keep in mind about the academic education route:

The financial return for a traditional college degree is declining, due to the fact that education is overpriced and well-paying jobs are increasingly more difficult to access in the first ten years out of college.

American colleges and universities are able to charge so much money because our culture has made the pervasive assumption that a college degree is a ticket to a high income and a secure and dignified job. This however has resulted in too many people receiving college degrees and too few receiving other forms of training.

This results in a shortage of people with vocational skills, which are essential to making the world run. As a result, these jobs are paying more than they have in the past and training programs are well funded and affordable. This means that the financial return on a vocational degree is significantly greater and more reliable than that of a bachelor's degree in our current economy.

It is important to keep professional development in mind as you go through your college education. This resource from CUNY can help you create a framework for doing so: