Interested in attending a STEM school in New York? Our ranking of top research universities for bachelor’s degrees displays schools that will best prepare you for STEM careers.
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.
Related: Differences between research universities and teaching colleges
The core elements of the best research universities in New York are teaching and learning, public service and community outreach, and research and discovery. While the teaching and learning elements are given in a city university, the research and discovery elements are also of crucial importance!
But research and discovery, which includes scientific and scholarly research, applied research, and creative activities, are also the most misunderstood elements of research universities! Public research universities are experiencing a decline in research funding with emphasis on resources being focused on the teaching and learning elements.
Research and discovery, however, matter in modern society—and, thus, public and private research universities matter, too! Here, we will take a brief look at the funding sources of research universities and the benefits that come with their research-related initiatives.
More than a few of the schools with the highest research funding from the National Institutes of Health (HIH) are in the State of New York. Cornell University, Columbia University, and New York University are among the leaders in research funding for medical sciences.
Of course, theoretical and applied research in diverse disciplines also receive funding from public and private sources. The federal government is the largest funding source for research and development in public and private research universities in New York State.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Science Foundation (NSF), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Department of Defense (DoD), and Department of Energy (DOE) are among the primary funding agencies.
Institutional support is the second-most largest funding source for research and development programs in research universities in the state of New York. Public and private research universities source these funds from tuition and other fees, royalties from inventions and patents, and endowments, among other revenue sources.
Other primary sources of support for research and development programs in research universities include:
Foreign government funding and designated gifts are also funding sources for research universities across New York state.
In terms of comparative costs, medical research and STEM research are the most expensive because of the imperative need for specialized facilities with state-of-the-art equipment and materials. Social sciences research is generally less expensive but researchers are also requesting larger grants due to the increasing complexity of issues under study. Arts and humanities research typically requires less funding, and the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts are among the fund sources.
Of course, teaching and learning are the core focus of research universities—as they should be considering that these are institutions of higher education. But research universities also bring numerous benefits to students, faculty members, and the university community in particular and society in general!
Serve the national interest. Research universities are the birthplace of discoveries and innovations that fuel the United States’ economic development and, thus, promote its national interests. The biotech industry, for one thing, is a product of research universities while countless innovations and discoveries came from university-based research.
Many research universities in New York are responsible for the greatest advances in science—Columbia University, City College of New York, and Cornell University. Columbia University is known for its world-class, life-changing research in diverse areas, too, from neurology to astronomy.
A research university is a great option for students interested in obtaining STEM degrees. Research universities invest heavily in research, which consequently provides meaningful and extensive opportunities for its students and faculty to participate in research. We’ve identified 29 research universities in New York. To be included in our ranking, schools must be a fully accredited universities and must must offer doctoral degrees across the range of STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math).
Tuition + fees
$64K
Acceptance
4%
Graduation
97%
Student body
26K
Median SAT/ACT
1515/34
Columbia University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$57K
Acceptance
13%
Graduation
87%
Student body
49K
Median SAT/ACT
1455/32
New York University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$61K
Acceptance
9%
Graduation
94%
Student body
25K
Median SAT/ACT
1470/33
Cornell University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$59K
Acceptance
41%
Graduation
86%
Student body
12K
Median SAT/ACT
1420/32
University of Rochester’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$58K
Acceptance
59%
Graduation
82%
Student body
22K
Syracuse University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$10K
Acceptance
48%
Graduation
78%
Student body
26K
Median SAT/ACT
1335/29
Stony Brook University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$7K
Acceptance
64%
Graduation
57%
Student body
12K
Median SAT/ACT
1155/27
City College of New York’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$48K
Acceptance
63%
Graduation
80%
Student body
5K
Median SAT/ACT
1275/27
Yeshiva University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$56K
Acceptance
58%
Graduation
83%
Student body
15K
Median SAT/ACT
1320/29
Fordham University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$11K
Acceptance
70%
Graduation
74%
Student body
28K
Median SAT/ACT
1225/26
University at Buffalo’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$52K
Acceptance
66%
Graduation
70%
Student body
9K
Median SAT/ACT
1250/28
The New School’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$59K
Acceptance
53%
Graduation
84%
Student body
8K
Median SAT/ACT
1400/31
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$10K
Acceptance
44%
Graduation
84%
Student body
18K
Median SAT/ACT
1370/30
Binghamton University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$10K
Acceptance
68%
Graduation
66%
Student body
16K
Median SAT/ACT
1170/25
University at Albany, SUNY’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$49K
Acceptance
68%
Graduation
70%
Student body
9K
Hofstra University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$46K
Acceptance
85%
Graduation
68%
Student body
14K
Median SAT/ACT
1190/26
St. John's University ’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$49K
Acceptance
88%
Graduation
59%
Student body
11K
Median SAT/ACT
1150/25
Pace University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$7K
Student body
5K
CUNY Graduate Center’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$53K
Acceptance
71%
Graduation
69%
Student body
14K
Median SAT/ACT
1320/30
Rochester Institute of Technology’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$39K
Acceptance
93%
Graduation
47%
Student body
10K
Median SAT/ACT
1185/25
Long Island University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$42K
Acceptance
77%
Graduation
71%
Student body
7K
Median SAT/ACT
1155/24
Adelphi University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$54K
Acceptance
75%
Graduation
76%
Student body
4K
Median SAT/ACT
1250/27
Clarkson University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$36K
Acceptance
71%
Graduation
73%
Student body
3K
Median SAT/ACT
1150/24
St. John Fisher University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$9K
Acceptance
65%
Graduation
76%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
1215/27
State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$39K
Acceptance
93%
Graduation
47%
Student body
10K
Median SAT/ACT
1185/25
LIU Post’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$34K
Acceptance
73%
Graduation
63%
Student body
2K
Russell Sage College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$21K
Acceptance
77%
Graduation
62%
Student body
8K
Touro University ’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$31K
Acceptance
78%
Graduation
57%
Student body
2K
Daemen University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$30K
Acceptance
92%
Graduation
64%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
1055/21
D'Youville University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Many of our 2022 undergraduate focused rankings look considerably different than 2021. That’s because we took a fundamentally different apporach. For 2021 we utilized our Concentrated Influence algorithm, designed to take away the size advantage larger schools have when we rank their faculty and alumni’s academic influence. Concentrated influence highlights smaller schools that are proportionally as successful as larger universities at cultivating influential alumni and faculty.
Check out our directory of research universities throughout the U.S. for a look at the top research institutions in every state.