Verified Federal Data · No Paid Rankings

Best Colleges in New York

Top New York colleges ranked by what actually matters after graduation: earnings, completion rates, and what you actually pay. Federal data. No surveys, no sponsorships.

Schools in ranking

130

New York schools in dataset

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How We Rank New York Colleges

Rankings use a composite score from verified federal data: graduate earnings (28%), graduation rate (25%), social mobility via Pell Grant share (20%), debt burden (15%), and net cost for low-income students (12%). Only 4-year non-profit schools with sufficient data qualify.

→Earnings: Median annual earnings 10 years after enrollment. Source: College Scorecard.
→Graduation rate: Full-time first-time students completing within 150% of normal time. Source: IPEDS.
→Net price: Average annual cost after all grants and scholarships. Source: IPEDS.
→Social mobility: Share of students receiving Pell Grants — a direct measure of access for low-income students. Source: IPEDS.
→Debt burden: Median federal loan debt at graduation. Source: College Scorecard.

Top 10 Colleges in New York (2026)

Ranked by composite: earnings, graduation rate, social mobility, debt, affordability.

#	School	Accept	Net Price/yr	Grad Rate	Earnings (10yr)
1	Boricua College New York, NY	50%	$14,187	81%	$35,348
2	CUNY Bernard M Baruch College New York, NY	48%	$2,978	72%	$75,971
3	United States Merchant Marine Academy Kings Point, NY	34%	$7,506	82%	$90,610
4	Columbia University in the City of New York New York, NY	4%	$20,148	96%	$102,491
5	CUNY City College New York, NY	60%	$3,486	57%	$66,039
6	Cornell University Ithaca, NY	9%	$32,337	95%	$104,043
7	CUNY Hunter College New York, NY	54%	$2,446	57%	$63,163
8	Rabbinical College Bobover Yeshiva Bnei Zion Brooklyn, NY	50%	$8,943	83%	$20,707
9	CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice New York, NY	57%	$3,046	56%	$56,195
10	CUNY Brooklyn College Brooklyn, NY	58%	$2,943	54%	$60,752

130 New York schools in dataset. Top 10 shown. Data: IPEDS + College Scorecard. Updated annually.

All 130 Colleges in the Dataset

The ranking above shows the top 10 by composite score. Every school in the full dataset is listed here so you can explore beyond the top results.

Adelphi University Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences Alfred University American Musical and Dramatic Academy Associated Beth Rivkah Schools Bard College Barnard College Be'er Yaakov Talmudic Seminary Binghamton University Boricua College Bryant & Stratton College-Albany Bryant & Stratton College-Buffalo Bryant & Stratton College-Greece Bryant & Stratton College-Online Bryant & Stratton College-Syracuse North Canisius University Central Yeshiva Tomchei Tmimim Lubavitz Clarkson University Colgate University College of Staten Island CUNY Columbia University in the City of New York Cornell University Culinary Institute of America CUNY Bernard M Baruch College CUNY Brooklyn College CUNY City College CUNY Hunter College CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice CUNY Lehman College CUNY Queens College CUNY York College D'Youville University Daemen University Dominican University New York Elmira College Empire State University Farmingdale State College Fashion Institute of Technology Fordham University Hamilton College Hartwick College Hilbert College Hobart William Smith Colleges Hofstra University Houghton University Iona University Ithaca College Jewish Theological Seminary of America Kehilath Yakov Rabbinical Seminary Keuka College Le Moyne College Long Island University Machzikei Hadath Rabbinical College Manhattan School of Music Manhattan University Manhattanville University Maria College of Albany Marist University Marymount Manhattan College Mercy University Metropolitan College of New York Mirrer Yeshiva Cent Institute Molloy University Mount Saint Mary College Nazareth University New York College of Health Professions New York Institute of Technology New York School of Interior Design New York University Niagara University Pace University Paul Smiths College of Arts and Science Pratt Institute-Main Rabbinical College Bobover Yeshiva Bnei Zion Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Roberts Wesleyan University Rochester Institute of Technology Russell Sage College Sarah Lawrence College Siena College Skidmore College St Bonaventure University St Lawrence University St. Francis College St. John Fisher University St. John's University-New York St. Joseph's University-New York St. Thomas Aquinas College State University of New York at Cortland State University of New York at New Paltz State University of New York at Oswego State University of New York at Plattsburgh Stony Brook University SUNY at Fredonia SUNY at Purchase College SUNY Brockport SUNY Buffalo State University SUNY College at Geneseo SUNY College at Potsdam SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry SUNY College of Technology at Delhi SUNY Maritime College SUNY Morrisville SUNY Old Westbury SUNY Oneonta SUNY Polytechnic Institute Syracuse University Talmudical Seminary of Bobov Talmudical Seminary Oholei Torah The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art The Juilliard School The New School Touro University Trocaire College Union College United States Merchant Marine Academy United Talmudical Seminary University at Albany University at Buffalo University of Mount Saint Vincent University of Rochester Uta Mesivta of Kiryas Joel Utica University Vassar College Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology Villa Maria College Wagner College Yeshiva Gedolah Imrei Yosef D'spinka Yeshiva of Nitra Rabbinical College Yeshiva University

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