Suffolk County College budget approved, tuition stays flat for 2026-27

Suffolk County lawmakers unanimously approved a $226.1 million Suffolk County Community College budget on Tuesday, keeping tuition flat for the 2026-27 school year.

College president Edward T. Bonahue credited enrollment growth and additional state support with making the flat-tuition outcome possible. Suffolk County Community College enrolls more than 23,000 credit students and 7,000 continuing education students across campuses in Selden, Brentwood and Riverhead, plus downtown centers in Sayville and Riverhead.

The Suffolk County Budget Review Office put the college’s 2026-27 request at $3 million, or 1.4%, above the adopted 2025-26 budget and $4.6 million, or 2.1%, above the college’s own estimate for 2025-26. The college also sought a 2% increase in the county contribution, a change county budget analysts calculated would have added $999,475 to the general fund in the county’s 2027 operating budget. County Executive’s Office recommended approving the operating budget as submitted.

The county’s budget process for the community college is built into Suffolk County Code Section A4-3(F), which requires at least two public hearings before lawmakers approve the operating budget and county contribution by Aug. 15. If the Legislature does not act by that deadline, the county executive’s recommendation is deemed adopted. In this case, the Legislature moved ahead with a unanimous vote.

The college’s Board of Trustees had already approved the 2026-27 budget and tuition and fee schedule at its April 16 meeting, before the county action. That same meeting included a $49,808 grant tied to an OHEP Equity Fund project that will fund three credit-bearing courses at Riverhead Correctional Facility in fall 2026, along with other student-support work, including disability services and gateway course redesign efforts.

Bonahue began leading Suffolk County Community College on June 28, 2021.