Five Towns College is a

private college Private universities and private colleges are institutions of higher education, not operated, owned, or institutionally funded by governments. They may (and often do) receive from governments tax breaks, public student loans, and grants. De ...

in Dix Hills, New York. The college's degree programs focus on music, media, and the performing arts.

History

Founded in 1972, Five Towns College holds an Absolute Charter issued by the New York State Board of Regents. The college's name comes from the original proposed campus, which was to be in Lawrence in southwestern

Nassau County, New York Nassau County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of New York. At the 2020 U.S. census, Nassau County's population is 1,395,774. The county seat is Mineola and the largest town is Hempstead. Nassau County is situated on western Long Isla ...

, an area known as "The Five Towns". However, the college never opened in that location. Its first campus was in

Merrick, New York Merrick is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, on the South Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. , the population was 20,130. Geography According to the United States Census B ...

(1973–1982). Its second campus was in Seaford, New York (1982–1992). The college acquired its permanent home in Dix Hills in 1992 and relocated there for the fall 1992 semester.

Academics

The college offers associate, bachelor, master's and doctoral degree programs through eight academic divisions. These include music performance, theatre arts, mass communications, film and television, business management, liberal arts, interactive media arts, and music teacher education. Popular majors include audio recording technology, broadcasting, musical theatre, music performance, and business administration and management. It was the first in New York State to offer a program which focused on jazz and commercial music. It was also the first to offer a program in audio recording technology as well as music business. Its programs of study are registered by the New York State Education Department. The college is institutionally accredited by the

Middle States Commission on Higher Education The Middle States Commission on Higher Education (abbreviated as MSCHE and legally incorporated as the Mid-Atlantic Region Commission on Higher Education) is a voluntary, peer-based, non-profit membership organization that performs peer evalua ...

(MSCHE). It also holds programmatic accreditation by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE/CAEP) and by the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM).

Student life

Approximately one-third of Five Towns College students reside on-campus in the college's Living/Learning Center - a complex of four residence halls with private bathrooms, student center and music practice rooms. The college is also home to the John Lennon Center for music and technology. The JLC is home to a suite of sound recording studios, film sound stage, interactive computer graphics lab, and student run radio station WFTU. The college is also equipped with a MIDI Studio, film editing Lab, and piano/keyboard Lab. The Five Towns College Performing Arts Center is a fully rigged main stage theatre, with seating for 600. The college also includes a black box style playhouse, costume shop, and set design and construction workshop. Through its Theatre Arts Division. the college produces a variety of Broadway-style theatre productions each year, including musicals, dramas, and comedies. Through its Film/Video Division, students produce a variety of motion picture projects, including narrative, experimental and short films. The college annually hosts the Long Island Media Arts Show, The Luminary Student Film Awards, and the Long Island 48-hour Film Festival, among many others. The Lorraine Kleinman and Stanley G. Cohen Memorial Library/Learning Resource Center (L/LRC) includes an extensive digital and bound collection of materials that support the academic programs. It also includes an Educational Technology Center for the training and development of online learning skills for both students and faculty. Additional support services include Wellness Counseling, Academic Advisement, and Tutoring Services. The college also has a professional Student Success Center, which supports the academic goals of students with documented learning disabilities pursuant to the American's With Disabilities Act (ADA). Five Towns College also offers the only Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP) on Long Island, which provides additional support services for students who are designated as both academically and economically disadvantaged by the New York State Education Department.

Athletics

The Five Towns College Sound Athletic Department is a member of the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA). It competes as a full member of the Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (HVIAC). The college offers men's and women's basketball, volleyball, and soccer. Since 2020 it has been offering competition in e-sports. The college's mascot is Fader the Seagull (the "national bird" of Long Island). Home games are streamed around the world by Mass Communication degree program students, who provide play-by-play coverage from the college's television lab - Studio 400, which is located adjacent to the Sound Arena.

Media

The college operates a broadcast transmission facility for its FCC-licensed radio station at Riverhead, NY under the

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally ass ...

WFTU. The station broadcasts 24/7 at 1570 AM and streams around the world over the Internet. On May 16, 2018, Five Towns obtained a permit from the FCC to construct a

broadcast translator A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater (two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tran ...

in order to begin FM broadcast operations at the frequency 104.9. However, though the translator has been licensed, the college has yet to begin public FM transmission.

Notable alumni

*Nicole Albino of

Nina Sky Nina Sky is an American musical duo consisting of identical twins Nicole and Natalie Albino. Their debut single " Move Ya Body", released from their self-titled debut album in 2004, was a success, reaching number four on the ''Billboard'' Hot ...

Jon Bellion Jonathan David Bellion (born December 26, 1990) is an American singer, rapper, and songwriter. He was born and raised in Lake Grove, New York on Long Island. He is best known for his song "All Time Low," along with his writing and producing cred ...

, songwriter and producer *

Jesse Carmichael Jesse Royal Carmichael (born April 2, 1979) is an American musician, best known as the keyboardist and rhythm guitarist for the pop rock band, Maroon 5. He also has a solo project called 1863 and a side project titled Circuit Jerks. Life and c ...

, keyboardist and guitarist of

Maroon 5 Maroon 5 is an American pop rock band from Los Angeles, California. It currently consists of lead vocalist Adam Levine, keyboardist and rhythm guitarist Jesse Carmichael, lead guitarist James Valentine (musician), James Valentine, drummer Matt ...

Julian Casablancas Julian Fernando Casablancas (born August 23, 1978) is an American singer, musician and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and primary songwriter of rock band The Strokes, with whom he has released six studio albums since their foundin ...

, lead singer of

The Strokes The Strokes are an American rock band from New York City. Formed in 1998, the band is composed of lead singer and songwriter Julian Casablancas, guitarists Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond Jr., bassist Nikolai Fraiture, and drummer Fabrizio Mor ...

Jared Cotter Jared Lincoln Cotter (born June 17, 1981) is an American pop/ R&B singer, songwriter and model. He has hosted a number of TV shows, and he co-wrote the number 1 song " Down" by Jay Sean.

, songwriter and television personality *

Kota the Friend Avery Marcel Joshua Jones (born October 16, 1992), known by his stage name Kota The Friend, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer, born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. He got his stage name from the Disney movie ''Bro ...

, rapper and singer-songwriter *

Wyclef Jean Nel Ust Wyclef Jean (; born October 17, 1969) is a Haitian rapper, musician, and actor. At the age of nine, Jean immigrated to the United States with his family. He first achieved fame as a member of the New Jersey hip hop group the Fugees, ...

, rapper and producer of

The Fugees ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

Adam Levine Adam Noah Levine (; born March 18, 1979) is an American singer and songwriter. He serves as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the pop rock band Maroon 5. Levine began his musical career in 1994 with the band Kara's Flowers, of which ...

, lead singer of

* Olivia Longott, R&B singer *, Oscar-nominated writer of

Raise It Up (August Rush song) "Raise It Up" is a 2007 song written by Jamal Joseph, Charles Mack and Tevin Thomas for the motion picture ''August Rush''. "Raise It Up" is performed in the film by Jamia Simone Nash and Impact Repertory Theatre, an African-American youth thea ...

* Chrisette Michele, recording artist * Christian Nilsson, filmmaker best known for '' Dashcam'' (2021) and '' Unsubscribe'' (2020) which topped the U.S. box office in June 2020 *

Joe Satriani Joseph Satriani (born July 15, 1956)Prato, Greg"Joe Satriani – Music Biography, Credits and Discography". '' AllMusic''. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved May 28, 2014. is an American guitarist, composer, songwriter, and guitar teacher. Early in his ...

, rock guitarist with 15 Grammy nominations * Earnest Woodall, composer and guitarist

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Universities and colleges in Suffolk County, New York Music schools in New York (state) Business schools in New York (state) Liberal arts colleges in New York (state) Educational institutions established in 1972 For-profit universities and colleges in the United States For-profit music schools in the United States 1972 establishments in New York (state) Universities and colleges on Long Island

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18 ...

Private universities and colleges in New York (state)