The State University of New York (SUNY) Board of Trustees approved the establishment of its first community college on April 9, 1953.

Classes began the following year in September at Auburn Community College in the former James Street Elementary School with sixty-nine students.

Albert T. Skinner, dean from 1953 to 1955 and president from 1955 until 1978 was instrumental in starting and developing the school from its humble beginnings to the campus where it is now located.

Cayuga Community College degree programs include health sciences such as Occupational Therapy Assistant programs, media production, art, accounting, education, criminal justice, geographic information systems, and liberal arts.

The "campus" briefly consisted of two rented classrooms in the basement of the Fulton Education Center, until later in the year when classes and offices moved into the former Holy Family School building on West Third Street.

On July 20, 2011 it was reported in the Syracuse Post Standard that Architectural plans are moving forward for a new Fulton campus.

The college’s Board of Trustees looked over floor plans of the new Fulton campus to be built in the River Glen shopping center.

The college bought the former P&C Foods building at River Glen Plaza for $950,000 and also is paying $495,000 for 45 acres (180,000 m2) of adjoining land.

Also located within the Learning Commons is the library, providing continually expanding collections of print and nonprint resources for Fulton faculty and staff, instruction service, laptop computers, online access to all electronic resources, and daily delivery of items from the Auburn collections.

The Fulton campus also houses business and industry training facilities, a full-service bookstore, and a student lounge.