About Us
The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York, United States. The university was founded in 1846 as a private medical college and merged with the State University of New York system in 1962. As of 2022, it is one of two flagship institutions of the SUNY system, along with Stony Brook University. As of fall 2020, the university enrolled 32,347 students in 13 schools and colleges, making it the largest public university in the state of New York.
Since its founding by a group which included future United States President Millard Fillmore, the university has evolved from a small medical school to a large research university. Today, in addition to the College of Arts and Sciences, the university houses the largest state-operated medical school, dental school, education school, business school, engineering school, and pharmacy school, and is also home to SUNY's only law school. UB has the largest enrollment, largest endowment, and most research funding among the universities in the SUNY system. The university offers bachelor's degrees in over 140 areas of study, as well as over 220 master's programs and over 95 doctoral programs, and 55 combined degree programs. The University at Buffalo, the University of Virginia, and Vincennes University are the only colleges founded by United States Presidents.
The University at Buffalo is classified among'': Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity". In 1989, UB was elected to the Association of American Universities. The University at Buffalo intercollegiate athletic teams are the Bulls. They compete in Division I of the NCAA and are members of the Mid-American Conference.
City leaders of Buffalo sought to establish a university in the city from the earliest days of Buffalo. A "University of Western New-York" was begun at Buffalo under the auspices of the Presbyterian Church and property was purchased at North Street and College, (the site of the later YMCA), on the north side of the Allentown district. "University of Western New-York" was chartered by the state on April 8, 1836. Following the charter, private funding was secured for the "Western University," which would endow six or seven professorships at $5,000 each; an addition $12,000 or $15,000 was also collected for a general fund, and a building lot was donated by Judge Ebenezer Walden, one of the wealthiest men in the city. However, the project collapsed and no classes were ever offered, and only the layout of the College Street campus remains.
