[11] Founded in the city of Oswego, the university was created to train teachers to meet pressing educational needs.

SUNY Oswego moved to its current location on the shore of Lake Ontario in 1913 after Sheldon Hall was constructed.

Development of the campus was planned by the architectural firm of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, who designed the major buildings.

The gallery's permanent collection comprises European, African, and American drawings, prints, paintings, ceramics and sculpture that date from the 18th century to the present, including several works by artist Sacha Kolin.

[16] Physically separate from the main campus, on the other side of New York State Route 104, is the south campus, consisting of Laker Hall (indoor sports, coaching classrooms, and athletic training rooms), Romney Fieldhouse (a Quonset hut that hosted the Laker hockey program until fall 2006) and several athletic fields.

In addition, more than 400 acres (1.6 km2) of Rice Creek Field Station (for biological research and public programs) are on the South Campus.

SUNY Oswego is one of the few universities in New York state whose art, music, and theater departments are all nationally accredited.

Oswego is a member of NCAA Division III and teams compete in the State University of New York Athletic Conference for most sports.

The rivalry currently manifests mostly in ice hockey; in the 1990s and early 2000s, Oswego fans would regularly throw bagels onto the ice when the Lakers scored against Plattsburgh, responding to a tradition where Plattsburgh fans threw tennis balls on the rink after goals versus Oswego.

In addition, the Campus Center arena was opened that year which allowed the university to more closely monitor and shut down fans who brought in bagels.

[30] Oswego has an array of Greek organizations (fraternities, sororities, or mixed) from both national and locally recognized chapters.