Public colleges and universities account for almost 75 percent of all undergraduate students in the U.S. The best public colleges in New York provide broad access to reputable degree programs, affordable tuition, and sprawling educational communities.
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.
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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.
Public and private colleges and universities operate under different business models — one is a private company with private funding; the other is owned by the state and receives both state and federal funding to operate. If you’re weighing the pros and cons of private vs. public college, consider that many public colleges provide diverse course offerings, influential professors, and an excellent return on your investment.
Public colleges are schools that receive most of their funding from tax revenues. As a result, the cost of a four-year degree at a public university is often lower than the equivalent cost at a private college — especially for students attending a public school in their home state. According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, the average annual cost (tuition, fees, room and board for full-time students) at a four-year public university was slightly over $20,000. In contrast, private universities cost, on average, nearly $43,000 annually.
This list is composed entirely of public colleges and universities that offer four-year undergraduate degrees. We’ve identified 41 public universities in New York; 27 of which meet our criteria. The list below of the 25 best public universities in the state satisfies the following four conditions:
The people affiliated with a school are ultimately what make it great. This is why, at the undergraduate level, we rank the best colleges and universities based on what we call “Concentrated Influence”. Concentrated Influence takes the combined influence score of a college or university’s top academic influencers (including faculty and alums) and divides it by the school’s total number of undergraduates.
Using concentrated influence gives small and mid-sized schools an opportunity to shine by taking away the size advantage of larger universities. A small school with proportionately more influential faculty than a large school, whose influence in absolute terms may be bigger, will nonetheless score higher in a concentrated influence ranking. Our approach highlights undergraduate schools that truly rank for excellence, regardless of size.
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.
Most ranking sites rely on an opaque combination of reputation surveys and arbitrary performance metrics. Concentrated Influence provides a ranking that is free from bias, insulated from manipulation, and reflective of real-world educational outcomes.
Find out more about our ranking methodology here.
Acceptance
9%
Graduation
85%
Student body
6K
Median SAT/ACT
1270/27
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United States Military Academy’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$7K
Acceptance
50%
Graduation
54%
Student body
15K
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Brooklyn College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$10K
Acceptance
49%
Graduation
76%
Student body
25K
Median SAT/ACT
1335/29
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Stony Brook University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$9K
Acceptance
74%
Graduation
61%
Student body
4K
Median SAT/ACT
1160/26
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State University of New York at Purchase’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$11K
Acceptance
67%
Graduation
75%
Student body
28K
Median SAT/ACT
1250/26
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University at Buffalo’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$7K
Acceptance
40%
Graduation
56%
Student body
19K
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Hunter College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$1K
Acceptance
24%
Graduation
82%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
1260/28
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United States Merchant Marine Academy’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$10K
Acceptance
43%
Graduation
82%
Student body
18K
Median SAT/ACT
1360/30
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Binghamton University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$8K
Acceptance
53%
Graduation
53%
Student body
16K
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Queens College, City University of New York’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$10K
Acceptance
57%
Graduation
65%
Student body
16K
Median SAT/ACT
1170/25
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University at Albany, SUNY’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$9K
Acceptance
73%
Graduation
72%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
1175/25
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State University of New York Maritime College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$9K
Acceptance
69%
Graduation
65%
Student body
7K
Median SAT/ACT
1155/23
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State University of New York at Oswego’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$7K
Acceptance
41%
Graduation
73%
Student body
16K
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Baruch College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$8K
Acceptance
62%
Graduation
76%
Student body
7K
Median SAT/ACT
1185/25
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State University of New York at New Paltz’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$8K
Acceptance
72%
Graduation
62%
Student body
5K
Median SAT/ACT
1095/22
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State University of New York at Fredonia’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$9K
Acceptance
61%
Graduation
67%
Student body
5K
Median SAT/ACT
1080/22
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State University of New York at Plattsburgh’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$9K
Acceptance
63%
Graduation
76%
Student body
6K
Median SAT/ACT
1080/23
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State University of New York at Oneonta’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$9K
Acceptance
61%
Graduation
78%
Student body
5K
Median SAT/ACT
1215/25
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State University of New York at Geneseo’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$9K
Acceptance
52%
Graduation
67%
Student body
7K
Median SAT/ACT
1160/23
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State University of New York College at Cortland’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$9K
Acceptance
72%
Graduation
50%
Student body
3K
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State University of New York at Potsdam’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$8K
Acceptance
80%
Graduation
40%
Student body
8K
Median SAT/ACT
980/20
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Buffalo State College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$8K
Acceptance
60%
Graduation
53%
Student body
9K
Median SAT/ACT
1070/21
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Farmingdale State College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$9K
Acceptance
58%
Graduation
66%
Student body
7K
Median SAT/ACT
1100/21
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The College at Brockport, State University of New York’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$9K
Acceptance
72%
Graduation
58%
Student body
4K
Median SAT/ACT
1055/21
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Alfred State College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$9K
Acceptance
80%
Graduation
43%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
995/20
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State University of New York at Cobleskill’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
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