Best Community Colleges in New York 2023

Published: Mar 22, 2021
Updated: Sep 8, 2023

The best community colleges provide an effective springboard into higher education, offering students high-quality two-year degree programs in a wide range of disciplines. The top-rated community colleges in New York offer a broad selection of associate’s degrees, affordable tuition rates, and strong partnerships with public four-year schools so that students can easily transfer their credits into accredited bachelor’s degree programs.

Suffolk County Community College 26 to 1
LaGuardia Community College 23 to 1
Finger Lakes Community College 23 to 1
Kingsborough Community College 22 to 1
Borough of Manhattan Community College 22 to 1
Dutchess Community College 22 to 1
Cayuga Community College 21 to 1
Rockland Community College 20 to 1
Westchester Community College 20 to 1
Queensborough Community College 19 to 1

Mildred Elley $13,873
Nassau Community College $5,800
Suffolk County Community College $5,470
SUNY Orange $5,376
Tompkins Cortland Community College $5,355
Rockland Community College $5,212
Jamestown Community College $5,200
Corning Community College $5,170
Onondaga Community College $5,090
SUNY Erie $5,047

Mildred Elley
SUNY Erie
SUNY Orange
Genesee Community College
Niagara County Community College
SUNY Adirondack
Hostos Community College
Onondaga Community College
Cayuga Community College
Tompkins Cortland Community College

Tompkins Cortland Community College 11 to 1
Mildred Elley 15 to 1
Jamestown Community College 15 to 1
SUNY Adirondack 15 to 1
Genesee Community College 15 to 1
Hostos Community College 17 to 1
Nassau Community College 17 to 1
SUNY Erie 17 to 1
Bronx Community College 18 to 1
Corning Community College 18 to 1

Dutchess Community College $4,450
Monroe Community College $4,706
Westchester Community College $4,730
Genesee Community College $4,750
Niagara County Community College $4,752
Queensborough Community College $4,800
Hostos Community College $4,800
Hudson Valley Community College $4,800
Kingsborough Community College $4,800
LaGuardia Community College $4,800

Key Takeaways

New York is home to over 400 universities and colleges, including community colleges. There are nearly 100 community colleges in New York City alone. Students shouldn’t have any problem finding the right community college for them.
Community colleges offer students an easy transition from high school, without the intense pressure that a traditional four-year college or university demands.
Attending a community college in New York can be a much more affordable and accessible option for students who want to transition to a four-year degree.

The Empire State and Its Community Colleges

In 2019, data shown by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed that associate degree holders earn roughly $887 every week, while those who only have high school diplomas take home $746. This proves that an associate degree from a community college is a good investment that will provide you with a good future in the long run.

In New York City, out of the hundreds of colleges and universities, 95 institutions offer two-year associate degree programs. This confirms that community colleges are still good options for those who cannot afford to enroll in a full-time, four-year college degree.

But are community colleges worth it?

Reasons to Enroll in New York Community Colleges

The choice of what you will do after you obtain your high school diploma or go back to college may sound overwhelming. Contrary to popular misconceptions, there are several ways you can benefit by attending a community college, whether through on-campus or online programs. These schools offer basic courses and professional certificates that you can use to substitute for the first two years of college credits.

So why should you attend a community college first?

Easy Transitioning: The transition from high school to living on-campus and away from your family can significantly impact your mental well-being and overall academic performance. Going to a community college first can provide an easier transition for adjusting to college life.

Community colleges can make your college experience as enjoyable and as relaxed as possible. For example, community college can help familiarize you with essentials for academic success, including lessons on note-taking, textbook recording, peer tutoring, testing accommodations, and even educational equipment loans.

It won’t hurt your résumé: Many people believe that graduating from a community college can hamper their career prospects. Putting your experience at a community college on your résumé can be seen as a positive, especially if you have earned professional certificates. In recent years, the respect for community colleges and associate degrees has grown exponentially across all majors.

Prospective students simply need to do a school search of private and public community colleges, looking especially at majors such as criminal justice, media arts, liberal arts, legal studies, fine arts, and other related programs or certificate programs that prepare students for various entry level positions.

Community colleges cost less. Community colleges are less costly than any four-year university for so many reasons. First, most community colleges do not have on-campus dormitories. This saves students on room and board costs, which can add up to thousands after two years.

Second, community colleges have lower tuition costs. On average, those admitted to a community college pay roughly $3,700 in tuition. Compare that figure to any in-state, four-year public university, which charges $10,440 per year on average.

Although the rates for community colleges largely depend on the state or region you’re attending, even the two-year cost in the priciest state is still less than what is charged to a four-year institution.

Even better, if you do need to take out student loans, the amount you will need to pay back will be significantly lower than if you attended a traditional four-year college.

Other Advantages of Going to a Community College in New York

When choosing your education path, you might be surprised to realize the many benefits you can get from attending a community college. While some students may feel that missing out on living on campus in a dorm is a disadvantage, the cost savings are significant.

Other benefits of attending a community college include:

Smaller college class size
No ACT or SAT scores are required for admissions
Career-specific courses
A chance to explore different classes
Proximity to home
Easier transition from high school
Class schedule flexibility

Colleges and Universities in New York

On average, tuition at New York’s higher education institutes comes in well-below the national average at about $7,900. Students have nearly 80 public school options to choose from, ranging in fees from $1,000 at the United States Merchant Marine Academy up to $10,000 at the University at Buffalo, the largest public university. However, some of the state’s private schools, such as New York University (NYU), charge tuition fees at a much higher cost.

Find college admissions consultants in your state.

Although tuition fees at NYU average $52,000, students who attend this school have access to some of the best programs in fields like literature, business, medicine, communications, and law. The school also boasts famous alumni like Whoopi Goldberg and Jonas Salk. New York also offers close to 40 religiously affiliated schools. Students can expect to pay a wide range of tuition costs at these schools, but have the option to major in fields like social work, law, religious studies, business, and nursing.

They say New York is a place where dreams come true. Here, fashion, culture, food, business, art, and many languages comfortably coexist. While The Empire State’s metropolitan landmarks, like the iconic Brooklyn Bridge, are noteworthy, many forget New York also offers access to the Great Lakes, the Atlantic Ocean, and countless cozy cabins tucked away in the verdant Catskills Mountains. Additionally, New York is home to over 200 colleges and universities, making it easy for students to dream big while earning their degrees.

Explore some of the top programs New York higher education institutes have to offer, and make your educational and personal dreams come true.

What are New York’s Colleges & Universities?

New York’s Best Overall

How do we determine New York's best community colleges?

Methodology

The people affiliated with a school are ultimately what make it great! If you are serious about finding the best colleges and universities for a bachelor’s degree, you should be asking where the most influential professors are teaching and whether their graduates are themselves advancing the school’s reputation for academic excellence in their fields of study.

Most ranking sites rely on an opaque combination of reputation surveys and arbitrary performance metrics. Concentrated Influence provides a ranking that is freer from bias, insulated from manipulation, and reflective of real-world educational outcomes.

To rank the influence of schools, we first determine the influence of scholars and professionals based on the number of citations and publications they have had over the past 10 years. In addition to publications and citations, we consider the web links to and from these sources, and the page views of those sources. We then match the influential people to their alma maters and institutions of employment, so that their influence is attributed to those schools. Our machine-learning Influence Ranking algorithm produces a numerical score of academic achievements, merits, and citations across Wikipedia, wikidata, Crossref, Semantic Scholar and an ever-growing body of data. If you are interested in exploring how and why we rank by influence, explore our methodology in more depth.

We’ve identified 36 community colleges in New York. The following list shows the best community colleges and primarily associate degree granting colleges in New York.