Best Grad Schools in New York 2025

Badge for BEST IN NEW YORK GRADUATE SCHOOLS

By Dr. James Barham
Reviewed By Jenn Finley

Updated: Nov 13, 2024

Key Takeaways

Graduate students in New York can expect vast options such as the CUNY schools, the SUNY system, and several private and ivy league institutions.
New York University is one of the most prominent university in the United States, with an undergraduate and graduate enrollment of over 49,000 students at its domestic and international campuses.
New York is one of the priciest states to obtain advanced education, but don’t worry, financial aid options are always available.

Table of Contents

2025 Ranking Update

Our Influence Ranking Engine™ leverages machine learning to track the real-world influence of colleges and universities over time. Below you’ll see which schools gained or last ground for the 2025 school year.

The top 3 positions in our 2025 ranking of the best grad schools in New York remain unchanged. City College of New York moved up 3 positions to 4th place. The New School moved into the top 10 by gaining 4 positions, while Yeshiva University and the University of Buffalo both moved out of the Top 10 this year.

Graduate Schools: New York’s Best

Obtaining a degree in New York is not for the weak and undetermined. New York is known for being one of the country’s most expensive places to live, meaning that students planning to obtain higher education here should expect to pay higher tuition and fees. Additionally, graduate programs in the best grad schools offer rigorous coursework.

However, despite its high cost of living, New York City is still one of the best places to live.

Cost of Living in New York

Living on or off campus will affect your rent costs. The state has numerous possibilities for residents. Off-campus housing will run you an average of $4,000 per month.

Additionally, New York has far higher food prices than most other cities. The national average monthly grocery bills for a single person are $165 and $345. In New York City, the expected monthly grocery bill is $468.

Fortunately, it’s easy to get around in New York City with a car, so getting to your college campus shouldn’t be a problem. In fact, having a car and driving in the city is generally not a good idea if you live in the city, especially if you are a student who doesn’t have a stable income. Remember that New York City has restricted parking, making it common for car owners to rent spaces that cost an average of $199 to more than $500 a month.

Reasons To Study in New York

New York is a major force in business, politics, art, and entertainment. New York’s GDP was $1,853,926,000,000 in 2021, making it the 3rd largest state economy.

The state’s GDP contribution is one of the reasons why colleges and universities charge higher tuition and fees for their top programs.

Top-Notch Academics

When it comes to academics, New York offers dozens of top-ranked universities. Some of the state’s prized higher education institutions include Columbia University, Cornell University, New York University, University of Rochester, and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

There is also a roster of top-rated New York law schools or colleges offering legal or law education. The faculty and students at these institutions are frequently the brightest, which gives you a significant advantage in the job market.

Diversity

New York is an extremely diverse state, and New York City is especially so. This American city is full of diverse ethnic backgrounds. Numerous diverse neighborhoods, shops, cuisine, and religions have helped the state became home to thousands of international students.

Better Networking Opportunities

It’s more crucial than ever to expand your network. Graduate students should challenge themselves to step beyond their comfort zone to have better opportunities safely. Fortunately, New York offers a wealth of activities that give students a better chance to build networks that will advance their careers.

Dreamland for Booklovers

More volumes than you could possibly read in a lifetime are housed at the over 100 public libraries in New York. Thanks to their serene atmosphere, you’ll think you’ve traveled back in time. Students can find the necessary respite from the outer world among the millions of books, maps, and magazines available.

Getting Around is Easy

Students often worry about how they will get around after arriving in a new place. Luckily, New York is a bustling city that provides a quick, affordable, 24/7 subway system. Buses are also accessible from any place in the city if the subway is ever too congested.

There’s Always Something for You

New York City is not called “The Big Apple” for nothing. Because it’s a major city with a very diverse population, you’ll always find something that suits your interests.

How do we determine New York's best grad schools?

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.

There are 42 doctorate-granting graduate schools in New York. Our ranking of the best graduate schools in the New York is composed of both private and public schools. To be included, schools must be fully accredited non-profit institutions, and must offer doctoral degrees and a broad array of graduate degrees.