What You Need to Know About OCC



Today I’m here with Casey Crabill, the President of Onondaga Community College, to discuss the many benefits OCC offers to its students and their families.

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Today I’m here with Casey Crabill, the President of Onondaga Community College. We’re going to discuss how OCC helps their students and their families.

As a community college, OCC has a couple of different missions. First of all, they help freshmen and sophomores make their way towards a bachelor’s degree. “We provide the first two years in a variety of majors,” President Crabill says. “We also have some students who are here for a career-focused education.” Those students study things like nursing and, instead of transferring to a four-year program, they get to work once their two years are up.

What sets OCC apart from other schools? President Crabill knows that many people are worried about the cost of college. OCC is an affordable alternative. “We can pretty much cut your college costs in half for a transfer degree,” she says. OCC has transfer agreements all across the country and all throughout the SUNY system, which makes it easier for students to transition into a four-year program.

Attending OCC can cut your education costs in half.

Price isn’t the only advantage of attending OCC. Onondaga also has small class sizes, even for freshmen and sophomores. At large universities, some students do not thrive when they are one out of 100 students in a classroom. The average class size at OCC is 22 students, so you will get know your professor better. President Crabill says, “We provide a more personal approach.”

Another advantage of attending OCC is that you will not be taught by graduate students. All of the faculty members are actual professors. Even your first-year courses are taught by professors, which definitely sets OCC apart from other universities.


OCC is known for several different programs. They provide everything from music or nursing to manufacturing and technology. “We have a thriving honors program,” President Crabill says. “We are also known for our lacrosse national championships.” The lacrosse program is simply a benchmark of the strong athletic programs OCC provides. There are plenty of options for students to choose from.


As for cost, full-time tuition for one year is $4,200, not including other fees and expenses (such as textbooks or room and board). “We have 874 students living on campus,” says President Crabill. All told, there are 1,100 students enrolled at OCC, making it the second largest post-secondary institution in Central New York, right after Syracuse University.


As we mentioned earlier, OCC is also part of the SUNY (State University of New York) system, which presents a few advantages for OCC students. OCC’s transfer pathways are rock solid because the other institutions know exactly which courses OCC provides. You will also receive a quality education, as OCC will meet the expectations of the SUNY system.


OCC is truly a great option for a number of students. If you have any questions for President Casey Crabill, give her a call at 315-498-2214 or email her at president@sunyocc.edu. If you have any questions for me, just give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!

Navigating the Central New York Housing Market


The slow part of the fall market—from the end of August to the beginning of September—is behind us now. We’re back into the hot fall market when home buyers are back out looking for homes and sellers are happy to see them.

As far as current home values go, in Central New York, in the $250,000 and below component to the Syracuse market, we’re looking at a tight inventory, meaning that there aren’t a whole lot of listings for buyers on the market. This means that it’s a great time to be a seller because buyers have fewer homes to choose from. Homes are pretty much holding their own in this price range.

Home buyers may have to be a little bit more creative, however. They need an agent who has contractors in line that can show them what can be done to renovate any home to make it their own.

In the Syracuse market, a balanced market is about three months’ worth of inventory. Right now we’re seeing between three and four months of inventory, and because of this balanced market, our pricing is pretty stable. We haven’t seen a real uptick or downtick in the market, which is typical for Central New York. This stability is why people like the Syracuse market!

The Syracuse market is balanced right now.

The average days on market for the greater Syracuse area is about 63 days. This can be a tricky figure because some of the houses that have sold quickly were listed on the market as For Sale By Owner first and then taken on by a Realtor. Our team’s average days on market is fewer than 43 days for first-time listings.

There are times when we see multiple offer situations in the Syracuse area and times when we don’t. The fall market is a great time for multiple offer situations because there aren’t as many houses on the market, and home buyers are still looking for homes. What ends up happening is that multiple buyers will make offers on a house that is updated and new to the market.

Because interest rates remain extremely low right now, buyers now have more purchasing power than ever before in Central New York. For anybody looking to purchase a home in the near future, finding a mortgage broker is the first step in the process.

If you have any other questions about the Syracuse market or anything related to real estate, please give me a call or send me an email. I’d love to hear from you!